08/12/2025 | Writer: Kaos GL
The TMMOB 9th Women’s Assembly was held on 6-7 December. The press statement issued at the assembly drew attention to the hate directed at LGBTI+ people.
The Union of Chambers of Turkish Engineers and Architects’ (TMMOB) 9th Women’s Assembly was held on 6-7 December at the Chamber of Mechanical Engineers’ Training and Culture Center.
At the assembly, women from TMMOB also issued a press statement, which was read by Dilruba Duygu Söylemez, Deputy Chair of the TMMOB Women’s Working Group.
The statement emphasized that the “Year of the Family” is a political framework and included the following remarks:
“By expanding the scope of the ‘Year of the Family,’ new policies are being introduced that aim to redefine women’s individual rights, freedoms, and social existence within the institution of the family. This approach, which confines women to care work, pushes them out of employment, makes divorce more difficult, and disregards violence, takes shape according to the needs of the patriarchal family structure and the neoliberal order that continually reproduces it. We will not allow our rights to be curtailed, our freedoms restricted, or our lives controlled in the name of the family!”
“The threats against our rights and our lives still persist”
The statement also addressed the 11th Judicial Package, which recently came to public attention in draft form with anti-LGBTI+ provisions. It noted that although the package submitted to Parliament did not include these anti-LGBTI+ articles, the following was said:
“The 11th Judicial Package, which recently came to the agenda, contained articles targeting the rights of women and LGBTI+ individuals and therefore faced strong public backlash; as a result, some discriminatory provisions were withdrawn. However, we know that the threats against our rights and our lives still persist. Violence against women is not a private issue but a social and political one. No attempt to undermine women’s civil rights, alimony rights, or freedoms can ever be legitimized. Reactionary policies and practices are narrowing women’s lives and targeting the principle of secular and equal citizenship. Discourses that polarize society and open space for hate politics pose a direct threat to the women of this country.”
The statement also highlighted ILO data, drawing attention to the violations LGBTI+ people face in working life:
“ILO data clearly shows that women face multifaceted inequalities in working life. For women and LGBTI+ individuals to have secure and equal working conditions, Turkey must immediately ratify ILO Convention No. 190 on Violence and Harassment in the World of Work. Equal pay for equal work, access to childcare, eliminating gender based wage gaps, and guaranteeing freedom of trade union organization are fundamental conditions for ensuring women’s equal representation both in employment and public life.”
Tags: human rights, women, life, family, lgbti
