Legislative Reforms in Turkey in the context of Gender Mainstreaming

This study investigates the process of the legislative reforms in Turkey between 1998 and 2005 in the context of gender mainstreaming. To illustrate the process, descriptively, the actors behind the amendments in the Turkish Constitution, Civil Code, Penal Code, Labor Law and the Law on the Protection of the Family are investigated based on the "Gender and Development" approach. The study exposes that international organizations (EU and UN), women's activism and state are incredibly influential in the process of the legislation stage of gender mainstreaming. The legislation stage of gender mainstreaming has been almost eventuated in Turkey, however, the second stage, which is institutionalization stage, has just started to be implemented. This study looks through the process using the "three legged correspondence."