full version - World Organisation Against Torture

TurkeyCivil Code which came into effect on January 1, 2002. Prior to thereforms of 2002, the Turkish civil code had seen few changes since itsadoption in 1926 modeled on the Swiss Civil Code of that time. Since the1950s, women’s rights groups in Turkey have struggled to reform the codeand have argued that women’s legally subordinate position in the familyhas contributed to continuing and serious violations of women’s humanrights. 3 In 1994, a government commission was formed to prepare a draftof the new civil code and many women’s groups began an intense lobbyingeffort to push through the reforms. In 2001, the entire reform processwas almost derailed by the Nationalists and Islamists in parliament whoobjected to a measure giving women equal division of marital assets incase of divorce. The religious conservatives and Nationalists argued thatthe equal division of property acquired during marriage would “changethe family from a matrimonial union to corporation, destroy love andaffection in the family and increase the rate of divorce and consequentlyruin Turkish society.” 4 Thanks to the efforts of more than 126 women’sgroups, the objections of the Islamists and Nationalists were surmountedand the reforms were passed in the form of 1030 new articles coveringimportant amendments to family law.Under the old civil code the husband enjoyed a position of absolute legalsupremacy in the family, with the legally sanctioned authority to makechoices over domicile, children, and property. This approach has beenabandoned in favor of one that defines the family as a union based onequal partnership. This new concept is also reflected in the language ofthe new Civil Code. The terms “wife” and “husband” have been replacedby the term “spouse(s).” Moreover, the language of the Code has beenconsiderably simplified and out-of-date legalistic terminology has beenreplaced with comprehensible, modern terms, making the law more accessibleto everyone. Several noteworthy changes to the Code reflect the newapproach to gender equality: 1) The husband is no longer the head of thefamily; spouses are equal partners, jointly running the matrimonial unionwith equal decision-making powers; 2) Spouses have equal rights over thefamily abode; 3) Spouses have equal rights over property acquired duringmarriage; 4) Spouses have equal representative powers; 5) The concept of“illegitimacy” formerly used to designate children born out of wedlockhas been abolished; custody of children born outside marriage lies withthe mother. 5 The new Civil Code has also raised the legal minimum agefor marriage to 18 (it was formerly 15 for women and 17 for men), gives345