GENEVA (11 July 2016)  – Turkey’s record on women’s rights will be examined by the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) on 13 July. Turkey has ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and so is reviewed regularly by the Committee on how it is implementing the Convention. 

Among the possible issues for discussion between CEDAW and a delegation from the Turkish Government are: 
·    Measures to guarantee human rights of women activists, defenders and journalists;
·    Stereotypes of women’s role in family and society, expressed in public speeches by high-level officials;
·    Significant rates of domestic violence; prevalence of killings in name of so-called "honour";
·    Under-representation of women in political and public life;
·    Access to reproductive health services;
·    Situation of women in detention;
·    Measures to protect refugee and asylum-seeking women and girls from violence, child and/or forced marriage, sexual harassment;
·    Access to justice, redress and assistance for women affected by conflict, in particular Kurdish women and girls, and women and girls affected by the Syrian conflict.

The review will take place in Room XVIII at Palais des Nations in Geneva from 10:00 – 13:00 (11:00 – 14:00 in Ankara) and 15:00 - 17:00 (16:00 – 18:00) and be webcast live at www.treatybodywebcast.org

The Committee will also hear from NGO representatives. More information about the review, including Turkey’s written report, here:
http://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/treatybodyexternal/SessionDetails1.aspx?SessionID=1019&Lang=en

The Committee’s findings, officially known as concluding observations, on Turkey and the other countries being reviewed – the Philippines, Myanmar, France, Albania, Uruguay, Mali, and Trinidad and Tobago – will be published on 25 July here:
http://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/treatybodyexternal/SessionDetails1.aspx?SessionID=1019&Lang=en

ENDS

Media requests: Liz Throssell +41 (0) 22 917 9466/ +41 79 752 0488 ethrossell@ohchr.org

Media accreditation for the Palais des Nations:   http://unog.ch/80256EDD006B9C2E/(httpPages)/70991F6887C73B2280256EE700379C58?OpenDocument

Background
CEDAW is composed of 23 independent human rights experts drawn from around the world. They serve in their personal capacity and not as representatives of States parties. The Committee’s concluding observations are an independent assessment of States’ compliance with their human rights obligations under the treaty. More information:
http://www.ohchr.org/en/hrbodies/cedaw/pages/cedawindex.aspx

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