POLICY FORMULATION OF GENDER EQUALITY IN TURKEY

Senay ERAY PhD candidate Department of Social and Political Science Gazi University e-mail: senayeray@gmail.com POLICY FORMULATION OF GENDER EQUALITY IN TURKEY Gender Mainstreaming: a three-legged correspondence model This study seeks to analyze the change and complex interaction/ interdependence between the EU, Turkish state, and women’s movements in the policy making process of gender equality in Turkey. A three-legged correspondence model is developed in order to reveal strict bargaining between these three actor groups with their diverse perspectives in the policy formulation process of gender equality. This paper proceeds in three parts. In the first part, the origins, meaning and historical development of the “gender mainstreaming” conception and the legislative reforms on gender mainstreaming in Turkey in last decade will be examined by giving references to the policy actors of the process. The second part concentrates on the “three-legged correspondence” model covering three main actors -the EU and UN, women’s movement in Turkey and the Turkish state- their roles and interactions in the process of legislative reforms on gender mainstreaming in Turkey. How the political agenda has come out, how it has been formulated and adopted is questioned to clarify the policymaking process of gender equality. In the third part, the approaches of actors and their effects and bargaining powers on shaping the gender equality agenda, and policy formulation are discussed. Finally, the making of gender equality policies will be discussed in the context of tree-legged correspondence with a “top-down” and a “bottom-up” approaches depending upon the domestic adaptation of Turkish state to the EU legislation in order to fulfill the membership conditionality. This study finds a fundamental change in the context of policy formulation of gender equality particularly on the basis of legislation and the structures of the administrative organizations. The apparent change has been a product of top-down policies trough the EU and UN bodies. However, the bottom-up policy with gender equality perspectives by domestic women NGOs indirectly affected the policymaking process with the support of international bodies.