Focusing on three important interrelated issues, Women and Civil Society in Turkey challenges the classical definition, developed in the West, of civil society as an equivalent of the public sphere in which women are excluded. First it shows how feminist movements have developed a new definition of civil society to include women. Second it draws attention to the role of women in the modernization of Turkey with special reference to the debate on the possibility of an indigenous feminist movement. Finally, it underlines the contribution of feminist, Islamic and Kurdish women’s movements in the transition from an ideologically constructed, uniform public sphere to a multi-public domain. Giving attention to the influence of diverse women’s movements over Turkish political values this book sheds light into the issue of how a feminine civil society has been constructed as part of a plural public space in Turkey. Ömer Çaha argues that this new public realm is the product of values and institutions which have been developed by diverse women’s groups who have succeeded in eliminating the traditional barricades between public and domestic spheres and in steering women into public life without sacrificing their own values.

This book evaluates the effectiveness of current international human rights law, and in particular the recent Istanbul Convention, in eradicating so-called honour killings in Turkey. So-called ‘honour killings’ have become an issue of concern for the international community. In Turkey, in particular, the practice still exists despite the adoption of the relevant human rights instruments. The book argues that the improvement of the status of women in Turkey in accordance with gender equality as well as the application of the principle of state due diligence, both requirements of the Istanbul Convention and international human rights law, are fundamental means towards eradicating the killing of women in the name of ‘honour’. Using feminist approaches, in particular the intersectionality approach, the study looks at the application of such standards as well as the current obstacles. Through such a lens, the study discusses the strengths and weaknesses of the Turkish Constitution, Turkish Civil Code, Turkish Penal Code and Law to Protect Family and Prevent Violence Against Women and questions the judicial approach to the implementation of the women’s right to life. It identifies the lacunae in the Turkish legislation that allow inadequate legal protection for women and the inconsistency of the judicial approach to the definition of the so-called honour killings in the judgements. The study then recommends some concrete amendments to the relevant legal provisions in order to better reflect the international framework and the feminist approaches. The book will be a valuable resource for academics, researchers and policy-makers in the areas of international human rights law and feminist legal theory.

In this book, in which definitions and examples of abuse from men and women from every continent and a very diverse set of backgrounds are considered. The volume provides information on the extent to which family violence is a recognized problem in each country, research findings available on different forms of family violence, and information on governmental responses to family violence. Finally, the value of an international human rights approach to abuse and violence in families is considered. The book presents an unparalleled international coverage, addressing all forms of family violence in Australia and at least two countries from every other continent. Each chapter begins by describing the cultural context in which family violence and abuse take place. These sections emphasize the role of women and children in the country. Providing a multitude of voices, each chapter includes fascinating and often dramatic definitions and examples of abuse from ordinary citizens of the country. The concluding chapter elaborates on the appropriateness of a human rights approach in addressing family violence cross-nationally and cross-culturally; and provides an excellent integration of much of the material from the previous chapters. The book is intended for advanced undergraduates and graduate students in psychology and sociology, as well as pre-professionals and professionals in medicine, law, and social services. It has strong relevance and value to individuals training in counseling (counselor education) and clinical psychology. Because of its readable style and extensive use of quotations from citizens of the countries studied for the book, it may also appeal to a much broader audience, including a lay audience.

In 2005, a Turkish woman was shot dead by her son in an 'honour killing' for appearing on a popular women's talk show on television. The show invited ordinary women from lower socio-economic classes to speak of their experiences of family life: marriage, divorce, child custody rights and relations with in-laws. Here, Solen Sanli examines the diversification of mass media in Turkey following liberalization in the 1980s. Specifically looking at popular women's talk shows ("Woman's Voice" Television), she explores the way in which groups with political and cultural power control public discourse and the public sphere in Turkey, and how urban/rural and Islamist/secular oppositions play out. Sanli traces the development of mass media in Turkey, particularly television, and closely examining how narrations of violence against women are presented. "Women and Cultural Citizenship in Turkey" contains rigorous, topical and original insights relevant for a range of disciplines, such as Anthropology, Gender and Communication Studies, as well as those researching cultural and political participation in the Middle East.

Amidst ongoing wars and insecurities, female fighters, politicians and activists of the Kurdish Freedom Movement are building a new political system that centres gender equality. Since the Rojava Revolution, the international focus has been especially on female fighters, a gaze that has often been essentialising and objectifying, brushing over a much more complex history of violence and resistance. Going beyond Orientalist tropes of the female freedom fighter, and the movement's own narrative of the 'free woman', Isabel Käser looks at personal trajectories and everyday processes of becoming a militant in this movement. Based on in-depth ethnographic research in Turkey and Iraqi Kurdistan, with women politicians, martyr mothers and female fighters, she looks at how norms around gender and sexuality have been rewritten and how new meanings and practices have been assigned to women in the quest for Kurdish self-determination. Her book complicates prevailing notions of gender and war and creates a more nuanced understanding of the everyday embodied epistemologies of violence, conflict and resistance.

From sites like Hollaback! and Everyday Sexism, which document instances of street harassment and misogyny, to social media-organized movements and communities like #MeToo and #BeenRapedNeverReported, feminists are using participatory digital media as activist tools to speak, network, and organize against sexism, misogyny, and rape culture. As the first book-length study to examine how girls, women, and some men negotiate rape culture through the use of digital platforms, including blogs, Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, and mobile apps, the authors explore four primary questions: What experiences of harassment, misogyny, and rape culture are being responded to? How are participants using digital media technologies to document experiences of sexual violence, harassment, and sexism? Why are girls, women and some men choosing to mobilize digital media technologies in this way? And finally, what are the various experiences of using digital technologies to engage in activism? In order to capture these diverse experiences of doing digital feminist activism, the authors augment their analysis of this media (blog posts, tweets, and selfies) with in-depth interviews and close-observations of several online communities that operate globally. Ultimately, the book demonstrates the nuances within and between digital feminist activism and highlight that, although it may be technologically easy for many groups to engage in digital feminist activism, there remain emotional, mental, or practical barriers which create different experiences, and legitimate some feminist voices, perspectives, and experiences over others.