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Video scandal threatens women’s role in politics
Halime Güner from the women’s rights group Flying Broom (Uçan Süpürge) said no one has the right to talk about the relationship between two adults, but in this case there is a power relation between the two.
“This event shows that not only do the party leaders have control over the decisions of the female deputies but also over their bodies. At least this is what many women felt. This event is a breaking point for many women and made them wonder whether they really have options in politics,” she told Today’s Zaman.
Hülya Gülbahar from the Association for Supporting Women Candidates in Politics (KADER) emphasized that this event had reproduced the cliché that the only way for women to climb the career ladder is to sleep with their bosses.
Both Güner and Gülbahar indicated that the incident proved that the only way to increase the participation of women in Turkish politics is to implement a quota for them.
“In political parties which lack democracy, the election of a woman is on the say-so of the party chairman. This situation creates more problems and allegations against women as well as imposing a glass ceiling. But if a quota is implemented, if the women’s branches are strong and women are able to elect women, the participation of women in politics will be ensured,” Gülbahar told Today’s Zaman.
She added that every angle of the incident has been discussed except its effect on women’s participation in politics. She added that other female politicians were not able to comment on the case because they feared isolation.
“This event was discussed with a mentality that neglects and disrespects women. All the mechanisms of a male-dominated culture were implemented. Baykal was urged to resign from the chairmanship, but in order to make the woman deputy pay a heavier price, there were calls for her to resign from the deputy post, too,” she said.
Güner said that if a woman wants to participate in politics, she has to be better than a man in every field and this is already an obstacle for women, but now further obstacles have been created.
Güldal Akşit, the chairman of the Equal Opportunities Parliamentary Commission, has a similar view. She said the greatest harm in this incident has been done to women and women in politics. She remarked that Baykal had been defended by his party, but Baytok was not mentioned and was neglected. “People started to refer to her as ‘that woman.’ This is a very bad attitude. This is the psychological abuse of women and proves that women in politics have no one to defend them,” she said.
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