General

Feminism in Turkey: an Interview with Denise Nanni


By Milena Rampoldi, ProMosaik. My
interview with Denise Nanni who, in 201,4 wrote a thesis at the Faculty of
Political Sciences, Sociology and Communication in Rome about politics of
female empowerment in the Muslim world, y focussing on Turkey. Denise now lives
in Istanbul where she works in the fields of feminism and women’s rights in
Turkey. Recently, we published
her article about the
organisation WWHR
, an NGO founded in
Istanbul in 1993. Since its foundation, the WWHR has been engaged on national
and international levels to ensure global recognition of women’s rights.
Milena Rampoldi: What does female
empowerment mean to you?
Denise Nanni: I believe that empowerment means, as a first
step, the awareness of being part of a disadvantaged social group. It means
becoming aware of the fact that only being part of a determined minority can
determine one’s own existence, chances and life choices. Only after becoming
aware of this, is it possible to act and acquire tools to change one’s
condition. Therefore, I think that women’s empowerment has to start as an
internal process. It requires a moment of reflection, in which it is necessary
to wonder who we are, as women, but, above all, as individuals, and how much of
what we are comes from the dominant culture, that in every society, imposes us
in more or less obvious ways, a definite identity and socially accepted
behavioural patterns, as if they were ready-made. Once you understand this, it
is possible to bring changes in the daily life (which can be different
depending on the native culture) and therefore become an example of the change
that you want to propose.
Milena Rampoldi: What do you think
distinguishes Western feminism from Muslim feminism, and which are the common
aspects?
I think that the common aspect is their final goal, which is
to improve women’s condition at local and global levels. The difference lies in
the way in which they aim to reach this goal. Modern Western feminism generally
refuses every aspect of the mainstream culture, holding it up as a product of
the patriarchal society. In my opinion, the demonstrations of the current
Western feminism are often simple provocations, which aim to attract attention,
but they end up by diverting it from the central issue. Muslim feminism is the
product of societies where religion and related traditions still have an
important role in people’s lives, and people shape their identity on them. It
is obvious that a total rejection of religion would be impossible, since it is
hard to break away from traditions, customs and habits, which are part of
everyone’s daily life. Therefore, Muslim feminists try to redefine women’s role
within the society without refusing their religion. This has been reason of
many controversies between the two factions: Western feminism considers itself
somehow superior, since Western feminist do not believe that a woman wearing
the scarf can be feminist at the same time because she inflicts upon herself
something imposed by men. What seems obvious to me is that saying this means to
violate a fundamental right, which is self-determination. Moreover, this
argument creates fissures, while unity and cooperation are needed.

Milena Rampoldi: Tell us about the main
historical steps of Ottoman-Turkish feminism?

Denise Nanni: The first changes in women’s condition date
back to the Ottoman times. The empire was going through a difficult time and
needed to face external enemies and internal nationalist movements that
threatened to erode the unity of the empire. For this reason, Sultan Mahmud II
decided to promote the integration of all nationalities inside the empire,
inaugurating a modernization process. Women’s oppression was identified as an
obstacle to this; therefore, reforms in terms of education and inheritance
rights were approved. Women started to organize themselves and to discuss about
their rights and many magazines on these subjects were published. This
so-called feminism was mostly institutional, top-down, structured, and just the
women of the upper classes of society could actually benefit from these newly
granted rights.
With the birth of the Turkish Republic, there has been a new
series of reforms because the country’s first President, Atatürk, identified in
women’s empowerment a fundamental prerequisite for the country’s survival. This
feminism, later called “Kemalist”, had as a central myth the existence of a
past, prior to the conversion to Islam, characterized by gender equality.
Atatürk promoted many reforms in order to encourage education and work for
women and gave them the right to vote. However, this state feminism was again
directed from the top and it had to remain within the borders plotted for it.
In the 70’s and 80’s, several sociologists had an important
role into acquiring the awareness of the failed implementation of the existing
laws, especially in the rural zones, where, at that time, most of the
population lived. After the coup in 1980, all parties and political organizations
were outlawed. Ironically, in this time a new wave of feminism arose. According
to Şirin Tekeli, feminist activist and writer, this was not casual: Kemalism
and Left ideologies had been an obstacle until that time; therefore after the
parties were outlawed and with many political leader on the run, in prison or
dead, women had the chance to raise their voice. This feminism is the first
considered to be entirely controlled by women. In this period, awareness
groups, magazines and organizations arose with the aim of creating a shared
feminist consciousness. What most characterizes this feminism was the attempt
at institutionalization: many research centres were founded, the first shelter
for victims of violence was inaugurated in Istanbul in 1990 (Mor Cati) ; in the
same year the Library and Information Centre was founded (Kadın eserleri
kütüphanesi ve bilgi merkezi vakfı). In 1991 the ministry for women’s issues
was established. In 1993 a group of activists founded Women for Women’s Human
Rights, an important independent NGO. In the 90’s many laws violating the
equality principle were modified and, in 2002, the Turkish Parliament completed
an extensive revision of the civil code. In that time in Turkey an important
debate, still unsolved, arose: is it possible to be a Muslim feminist?
Today the State is not the only one that is committed in
obtaining wider gender equality and women’s empowerment. Since the 70’s, the
role of NGOs has grown considerably. Some of these are so important that they
are consulted by the World Bank and have representatives in United Nations
conferences. Since the 90’s, NGOs engaged in policies for women in Turkey, in
line with this trend, have begun to participate more actively in development
programmes. The activities aiming at women’s empowerment includes providing
services to increase the literacy rate, providing medical information on birth
control, developing capacities and skills of women in order to increase their
participation in the employment context, providing shelters and legal
assistance. Several international organizations cooperate with and provide
funds to Turkish NGOs: the World Bank, the United Nations, UNDP and UNFPA.
These, in line with the paradigm of the bottom-up policy, are favouring
cooperation with NGOs and civil society, who are able, sometimes more than
international organizations, to put pressure on policy makers. One of the most
significant changes that took place after 2000 was the reform of the criminal
code in 2004.

Milena Rampoldi: How can you focus on
Islam and on the Quran to promote women’s position in Turkey?

Denise Nanni: I think that the desire to give an alternative
reading of the Quran is not the best strategy to promote women’s rights in
Turkey or in any other country. What I think is that we should leverage common
sense. You cannot convince a person that a particular conduct is a violation of
human rights, taking as example or proof passages from the Quran or any other
scripture. These are books written in other periods of history and the product
of those times. An example: the passage of the Quran in which it is said that a
man can have several wives is the product of an historical period in which for
a woman to be a widow meant to die of starvation and encounter a negative
social stigma. That part of the Quran has been used to justify today’s
polygamy. It was a convenient social custom back then but unjust today.
Therefore, we must act on the ability of people to think independently. If you
would provide an alternative interpretation of the Quran, assuming that it will
be universally accepted, you could remove the problem, but not the source,
which is, in my opinion, the inability to detach from the rules, of any kind,
when they are obviously wrong.

Milena Rampoldi:
Tell us about the Coalition for Social and Bodily Rights in Muslim Societies.

In September 2001 a meeting called Women, Sexuality and
Change in the Middle East and Mediterrean was held in Istanbul. In this
occasion the representatives of 19 NGOs and academics from Algeria, Egypt,
Lebanon, Morocco, Pakistan, Palestine, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey and Yemen got
together. The meeting, the first of its kind, brought together experts and
scholars who, in their careers, had dealt with several forms of sexual oppression
in their countries. This meeting led to the founding of the Coalition for
Sexual and Bodily Rights in Muslim Societies (CSBR), a network of international
solidarity that has the intent to promote sexual rights, physical and
reproductive rights as human rights in Muslim societies. In 2004, the CSBR was
expanded to include organizations and academics of South-east Asia. The CSBR
has an inclusive approach to sexuality, recognizing its central role in
private, public and political life. It has also played a key role in
establishing and expanding the notion of sexual rights, which had been almost
non-existent, and in breaking taboos regarding the rights of homosexuals. The
CSBR, in order to achieve gender equality, social justice and democratization,
considers necessary to review and strengthen the legal system, adopt and
implement programmes and policies based on the rights to education and health,
increasing the funds for programmes and institutions that aim to ensure gender
equality, developing policies and programmes that aim to reduce and eliminate
the feminization of poverty and HIV / AIDS. The CSBR activity consists of
awareness and information campaigns.

Milena Rampoldi: What do you think are
the best strategies to combat violence against women in countries like Turkey?

Denise Nanni: I think that the best strategy is just one:
education. Education, exchange and contact with different realities are the
only things that can really open your eyes and allow the younger generation to
understand that their reality and their way of life are not the only ones
possible, and that the models of behaviour that they have learned within their
families are not always right. Changes cannot be imposed from above by laws but
must be accompanied by a social change from the bottom.