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Turkeyrapid urbanization and persisting regional economic disparities. Becauseof women’s low status in Turkey, they are particularly affected by thesefactors.Although women continue to improve their professional standing particularlyin urban areas they still lag far behind men. Women make up only36% of all professional and technical workers, and only 9% of all legislators,senior officials and managers. 12 The ratio of estimated female tomale earned income is 0.46 13 and more than 90% of all property inTurkey is owned by men. A large percentage of women in rural areas areemployed in the agricultural, trade, and tourist (hotel, restaurant) sectorswhere they work as unpaid family help. 14 Despite efforts made by theTurkish government to allow more girls to continue their educationthrough the 8-year compulsory education requirement (implemented in1998), in rural areas traditional family values place an emphasis on theeducation of boys rather than girls. Thus the literacy rate for women inrural areas can be as low as 50%. 15 The overall female adult literacy rateis also significantly lower than that of men, 76.5% versus 93.5% respectively.16 The persistent practice of early marriage in rural areas alsorestricts women’s educational and economic opportunities.Turkey’s rapid urbanization is also affecting women on a number of levels.Turkey is one of the most rapidly urbanizing countries in the region.In 1975, 41.6% of the population in Turkey lived in urban centers. In2000, more than 65% of Turkey’s population was urbanized, and UNDPpredicts that at the current rate, close to 80% will be living in cities by2015. 17 This demographic trend has resulted in a clash between traditionalrural values and more modern urban lifestyles, which has affectedyoung women in particular. As young women in cities are increasinglymore educated, more exposed to the outside world and demanding moreof the freedoms associated with urban life, they are also increasingly inconflict with the older generation of their parents. This has led to a rapidrise in suicides among urban and rural women as well as murders, beatingsand other forms of domestic violence. 18Although there are no legal restrictions on political activity by women,female participation in political life remains very limited. In former PrimeMinister Bulent Ecevit’s government there were no female ministers in his35-member cabinet, and only 4.2% of parliamentarians were women.347