Sexual harassment at workplace remains serious problem in Turkey

Stressing that for long there had been no serious punishment for sexual harassment despite the fact that it is unfortunately widespread in Turkey, Association for Education and Supporting Women Candidates (KA-DER) President Hülya Gülbahar says amendments were finally made in 2005 for the benefit of women with a change to Article 105 of the TCK.

“The problem is still serious, however, because the victim is required to prove that she was subjected to harassment. Instead, the assailant should be asked to prove his innocence in sexual crimes,” Gülbahar told Sunday’s Zaman.

The fourth European Working Conditions Survey carried out in the autumn of 2005 across 31 countries, including the 27 EU member states by the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions also reveals the seriousness of the problem in Turkey, which ranks third among the 31 countries surveyed for incidents of sexual harassment. According to the survey, women in the Czech Republic (10 percent); Norway (7 percent); Turkey and Croatia (6 percent); and Denmark, Sweden, Lithuania and the UK (5 percent) are most affected by sexual harassment, or unwanted sexual attention, while in some southern European countries the phenomenon is barely reported at all. Italy, Spain, Malta and Cyprus all have incidences of less than 1 percent overall.

The already widespread phenomenon of sexual harassment in the workplace in Turkey has come under spotlight recently with the emergence of recent claims that Ambassador Murat Adalı, who was recently appointed to Jakarta, harassed the press advisor at the Turkish Embassy in Tokyo while serving as Turkey’s deputy ambassador there. Turkish dailies reported last week that after the advisor, Ö.K.M., informed her higher-ups about the incident, the Foreign Ministry intervened in the issue and started an investigation into the matter.

In a similar incident in February, the Foreign Ministry launched an investigation into complaints filed against Turkish Ambassador to Italy Ali Yakıtal over charges of sexual harassment.

Two female public servants complained to the ministry that they had been subject to sexual harassment by Yakıtal. Before being appointed to Italy, Yakıtal was serving as a foreign policy advisor to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Yakıtal was recalled to Ankara in March in line with diplomatic protocol as he is the subject of an ongoing investigation over charges of sexual harassment.

Education institutions and schools are among workplaces where sexual harassment is most frequent in Turkey. In a recent incident, A.U., a teacher at a public school in the southeastern province of Gaziantep, filed a criminal complaint against F.Ç., the principal of the school, on the grounds that he verbally sexually harassed her. In what could be seen as an example of weakness in relevant laws, the principal was only censured while A.U. was given a wage cut on the grounds that she failed to prove her allegations. Furthermore, she was moved to a school in the district of Islahiye.

In a statement released on Aug. 30, Education Personnel Union (Eğitim-Sen) strongly condemned the harassment case and voiced support for A.U., underlining that sexual harassment at the workplace is the most widespread form of violence against women.

Sexual harassment obstacle to working women

Nilüfer Yılmaz from the Diyarbakır-based Women’s Consultation and Solidarity Center (KAMER) says sexual harassment at the workplace stands as a big obstacle to women who work. Stating that being a woman alone can be a handicap, she says this problem becomes graver when women are subjected to sexual harassment.

Commenting on the fact that such cases also take place at prestigious institutions such as embassies, where mostly educated people work, Yılmaz said this issue has nothing to do with education but the perception of women in society.