yakin erturk

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Yakın Ertürk, Emeritus Prof of Sociology, Middle East Technical University in Ankara, Turkey, worked for various national and international agencies on rural development projects (1986-2003); Director of UN İNSTRAW(1997-1999) and UN DAW (1999-2001); held human rights monitoring mandates of the United Nations (2003-09; 2012-13) and Council of Europe (2009-2013).
Phone: +90-532-724-6859

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Women’s Rights in an Age of Global Disorders

Presented at: ISA - RC 32 Presidential Session “Security and Gender Equality: Maghreb, Middle Eas... more

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Care Crisis, Anti-Gender Authoritarianism and Feminist Possibilities

Feminist Dissent, 2025

Once we have understood housework, we will understand the economy.' Claudia von Werlhof, Austrian... more Once we have understood housework, we will understand the economy.' Claudia von Werlhof, Austrian ecofeminist, political scientist and economist
The care crisis, erupting at the height of the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic, exposed the female body and care labour as critical sites for system management. Anti-gender authoritarianism, through increased violence and patronage of a traditional patriarchal gender order, is on the rise globally seeking to keep women in 'their place'. How can feminism, which has so far pursued a liberal approach of integrating into mainstream society, confront this transgression? Guided by this question, the article probes into the patriarchal division of labour, which is at the heart of the care crisis and anti-gender authoritarianism; assesses gender mainstreaming for its capacity to deliver equality; and ends with a reflection on feminist possibilities for emancipatory praxis in responding to the new challenges.

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Şiddetle Mücadelede Devletin Özen Yükümlülüğü Üzerine Düşünceler

Ankara Barosu Dergisi, 2025

Gerek uluslararası örf ve âdet gerekse sözleşme hukuku, devletlerin, faili kim olursa olsun, kadı... more Gerek uluslararası örf ve âdet gerekse sözleşme hukuku, devletlerin, faili kim olursa olsun, kadınlara yönelik şiddet eylemlerini önlemek, mağdurları korumak, failleri cezalandırmak ve şiddetin yol açtığı zararı tazmin etme yönünde gerekli özeni gösterme yükümlülüğü bulunduğu kuralını kabul etmiştir. Böylece, devlet doktrinin pozitif yükümlülük anlayışını da içermesiyle şiddetle mücadele ivme kazanmıştır. Bu yöndeki önemli gelişmelere rağmen, şiddetin tüm dünyada artma eğiliminde olması uluslararası norm ve pratik arasındaki mesafeyi açmakta ve sorunun ‘objektif’ hukuk normlarının uygulanmasından ibaret olmadığı gerçeğini ifşa etmektedir. Bu çalışma, devletin özen yükümlülüğü standardının, özellikle şiddetin önlenmesi bağlamında uluslararası belge ve mekanizmalarda yorumu, olanakları ve sınırlarına odaklanmakta ve direnen yapısal eşitsizlikler, ekonomi politik dinamikler, toplumsal cinsiyetin anaakımlaştırılması yaklaşımının çelişkileri karşısında, anaakım toplum düzenini dönüştürecek yeni bir feminist vizyonun gerekliliğini savunmaktadır.

Şiddetle Mücadelede Devletin Özen Yükümlülüğü Üzerine Düşünceler

Ankara Barosu Dergisi, 2025

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4 Turkey’s Modern Paradoxes: Identity Politics,Women’s Agency, and Universal Rights

New York University Press eBooks, Dec 31, 2022

Feminist Advocacy, Family Law and Violence Against Women

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Identity politics: implications for gender analysis policy and training

PubMed, 1997

As attention has shifted from a concern for citizenship, equality, and welfare to ideas of empowe... more As attention has shifted from a concern for citizenship, equality, and welfare to ideas of empowerment, equity, and governance, the locus of competition over power has rested with "identity politics," a recognition of cultural diversity that claims the legitimate right to produce alternative definitions and symbols of identity in public space. The change in identity formation from universal/national to fractured/tribalizing has implications for gender relations in contexts where patriarchal power controls production and reproduction. Except for feminism, all discourses in the current competition over identity politics are patriarchal. A look at the forces of change that shifted the process of modernization to a process of globalization reveals that, while modernization tends to standardize, globalization embraces the contradictory forces of universalizing and diversifying trends. Issues of identity and inequality were not problematic until the modern and the traditional subsumed each other and, thus, revealed the inherent contradictions of modernization. The diversifying forces that jeopardize the transnationalization of identity into membership in a "human society" include 1) language differences among the working classes, 2) growing global inequalities, and 3) collective memories of antagonistic histories. An analysis of gender based on identity politics can be conducted on a macro-level to understand the reluctance of central governments to initiate certain interventions, competing needs, new contradictions, changing gender roles, and the importance of promoting a global social contract.

The due diligence standard as a tool for the elimination of violence against women

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Report of the Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women, Its Causes and Consequences, Yakin Ertürk

Le présent document est le premier rapport thématique que je présente en tant que Rapporteuse spé... more Le présent document est le premier rapport thématique que je présente en tant que Rapporteuse spéciale sur la violence contre les femmes, ses causes et ses conséquences, conformément à la décision 1/102 du Conseil des droits de l'homme. Le chapitre I est une introduction, le chapitre II résume les activités que j'ai entreprises en 2006 et le chapitre III examine les relations entre culture et violence contre les femmes et présente mes conclusions.

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Towards a post-patriarchal gender order

Sociologisk Forskning, Oct 1, 2009

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Integration of the human rights of women and the gender perspective: Violence against women. Violence against women its causes and consequences. Report of the Special Rapporteur Yakin Erturk. Addendum. Visit to the Darfur region of the Sudan

The political economy of peace processes and the Women, Peace and Security agenda

Conflict, Security & Development, 2020

This article examines why the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda has been so challenging to i... more This article examines why the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda has been so challenging to implement and argues that the political economy of war and peace, driven by a complex network of power, is a deterrent to sustainable and gender-just peace. However, peace initiatives are not a zero-sum game. They are dialectical, offering possibilities for both regressive and transformative change. Although inclusion of women and gender concerns in current peace processes lags behind expectations, the WPS agenda has been instrumental in changing the negotiation landscape and empowering women beyond the peace table. It has also exposed the need for a paradigm shift in the understanding of peace and security that effectively responds to power asymmetries and the neo-liberal environment that shapes policy and practice. Given their marginalised positioning vis-à-vis hegemonic power structures, women stand to contribute towards this end.

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Feminist advocacy for family law reform

Feminist Advocacy, Family Law and Violence Against Women, 2018

Expanding gender accountability? Women’s organizations and the state in turkey

International Journal of Organization Theory & Behavior, 1999

In the 1980s and 1990s, a women’s movement has arisen and begun to mature in Turkey. Women’s orga... more In the 1980s and 1990s, a women’s movement has arisen and begun to mature in Turkey. Women’s organizations representing diverse positions and missions have begun to engage in a dialogue with each other, as well as with the Turkish state, especially with the National Women’s Machinery: “Directorate General on the Status and Problems of Women”. This article explores the reasons for the above developments through an examination of a) the influence of the international women’s rights regime and gender sensitive donor programs, and b) increased openness and diversity within Turkish society. We reach the conclusion that even though these changes are limited, they have important implications, heralding an increased tolerance for compromise on the part of the Turkish state, and a readiness to overcome the traditional dichotomous view of the state (expecting all services from the state or staying completely away from the state) on the part of the women’s organizations. This process has furth...

Expanding Accountability? Women's Organizations and the State of Turkey

International Journal of Organization Theory and Development, 1999

Towards a Post-Patriarchal Gender Order: Confronting the universality and the particularity of violence against women

The issues of gender equality and women's human rights have become major spheres of academic deba... more The issues of gender equality and women's human rights have become major spheres of academic debate, policy and activism in virtually every corner of the globe. Violence against women, a relatively late comer to the international gender agenda, has provided a particularly critical entry point in challenging long standing gender ideologies and taboos as well as the gender biased mainstream human rights framework that kept, until recently, the gender specific abuses women experience outside of public scrutiny. The recognition of violence against women (VAW) as a human rights issue at the 1993 Vienna Human Rights Conference paved the way for the emergence of gender sensitive and inclusive standards in human rights protection. In this regard, the adoption of the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women by the United Nations General Assembly the same year and the creation of the post of Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women, its causes and consequences (SRVAW) in 1994 are milestone developments in expanding the boundaries of human rights and in providing both the standards and the mechanisms with which to respond to the violations of women's rights in both public and private spheres of life .

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The due diligence standard: What does it entail for womens rights?

Due Diligence and Its Application to Protect Women from Violence, 2009

Violence against women, with diverse and multiple local manifestations, is embedded in the histor... more Violence against women, with diverse and multiple local manifestations, is embedded in the history of patriarchal gender relations which is common to all civilisations and cultures. This chapter explores the potentials of the due diligence standard for expanding the obligation to combat violence against women in view of the specificities of violation of womens rights and the prevailing challenges. In so doing, the aim is to push the boundaries of the due diligence standard to strongly endorse: (a) the obligation of a state to engage in the root causes of violence against women to prevent violence against women while effectively responding to it when it occurs; and (b) the role of non-state actors as duty bearers with respect to violence and other violations of womens human rights. Human rights bodies such as CEDAW Committee have elaborated on the requirements of the due diligence standard in relation to specific country situations. Keywords: CEDAW Committee; domestic violence; due diligence standard; womens rights

Implications of Labor Displacement for Production Relations in Yemen

Center for Migration Studies special issues, 1994

, the Yemen Arab Republic (YAR) and the People's Demo-0 cratic Republic of Yemen (PDRY) united to... more , the Yemen Arab Republic (YAR) and the People's Demo-0 cratic Republic of Yemen (PDRY) united to form what is now the Republic 'As this volume goes to press, unification has been abrogated and the country is in a state of civil ?In 1989, "The Tihama Environmental Protection Project" was proposed by the government of Yemen and undertaken by IFAD (International Fund for Agricultural Development) in order to conrrol the desertification process. The current status of the project is unknown. 107 War. 'In some cases, marginal agricultural land was abandoned. According the Second Five-Year Plan (1982-1986). total grain production decreased by 14% and cotton production by 63% between 1975/76 and 1980/81 (CPO, SFYP: 20). The area under grain cultivation in 1979/80 was about 68% of that in 1975/76. While fruit and vegetable production increased in the same period, this was caused by increases in productivity rather than expansion of land under cultivation. PRODUCTION hLAT1ONS IN YEMEN 113 cropping pattern in the wadis is as follows: sorghum, 66%; millet, 15%; industrial crops, 14%; vegetables 2%.

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Convergence and Divergence in the Status of Moslem Women: The Cases of Turkey and Saudi Arabia

International Sociology, 1991

The theoretical concern underlying this article is to explore the possibilities of developing an ... more The theoretical concern underlying this article is to explore the possibilities of developing an alternative perspective to overcome the inadequacies of both universal (but ethnocentric) and relativist (but legitimising) accounts of culture-specific analysis. The problem addressed is the status of women in Turkey and Saudi Arabia - two Moslem societies representing significantly different models of national transformation. While the cultural and structural variability is illustrated, by focusing on such diverse examples it is also argued that it is not Islam per se (i.e. the implementation of the Sharia) that accounts for the sex segregated structure of society, which places women in a subordinate position to different extents, but rather that it is the religious-political tradition of the `corporate identity' which is so profoundly embedded in the intimate levels of consciousness and gender relations. It is therefore concluded that the liberation of women in Moslem societies is...

Linking research, policy and action: A look at the work of the special rapporteur on violence against women

Current Sociology, 2012

This article focuses on the achievements and challenges in linking research, activism and policy ... more This article focuses on the achievements and challenges in linking research, activism and policy in the making of a comprehensive international regime on women’s human rights with a particular focus on the work of the UN Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women. The impact of violence against women as an international policy agenda not only opened the private sphere to public scrutiny but it has also challenged mainstream human rights practice and State doctrine, and broadened and diversified feminist theorizing thereby facilitating the augmentation of the transnational women’s movement. The article argues that preventing violence against women requires a holistic approach beyond the often hierarchical treatment of rights, the selective response to the problem as belonging to the ‘other’ and the narrow perception of violence as harm done. It concludes that unless women’s agency is recognized and their capabilities supported through social, economic and political empowerment, and...

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