WOMENINSUSTAINABLEDEVELOPMENTANDECOFEMINISM

FemalePlanetWillBeGreenAgainForEveryone FrancoisedEaubonne

IINTRODUCTION Echofeminists predicate origin of natural worlds destruction to Western societiess hierarchial dualisms (culture/nature, men/women, mind/body, and science/information of public, intelligence/feelings, and materialism/morale. They claim that those dualism are capturingwomentoaspecialworldnegativelywiththeirnature,body,feelingandmoraleand it arises a one dimensional public world that men are concreting culture, mind, science, intelligenceand materialismandthat menareregulatingwiththeirownsimulacrum.Inthis sense, according to echofeminists societies in which men are dominant and show a aggression,competiveness,andthinkingoneaspectattitude.Intheprocessofformingpolicy in a public system, which is not having women values and women, echology problems are highlyincreasing.Inglobalscaleatpoliciesofdevelopment,withanapproach,whichisnot accommodatingwomenandwomenvalues,echologyproblemscannotbesolved.

Althoughoriginoffeministmoveispredicatedto19thCenturyinwhichreformistmoveshad startedatWesternWorld,itisknownthatfirstmovesextendbeforethe18thcentury.Afterthe firstfeministmovescalledFirstMovebetween18921960yearsat1960feministmoves calledSecondMovehasemerged.Whenitwas1980,ThirdWavemoveswhichisalso knownasPostFeministMovebegantobeperceived.

Populationandindustrization,whichincreasedveryrapidlyaftertheSecondWorldWarwere reactions against production of high destruction capacity weapons and great damages of nuclear researches caused arising of trends like Deep Echology, Social Echology, Environment Ethics.To overcome environment problems those trends which offer rooted alterationsatsocial,economicalandpoliticial forms haveattractedsoless interest.Yearsof 1960canbeexpressedasseekingyearsthatmanymeaningfulwordshadbeenspokenonthis field. Years of 1970 are the constitutive years regards to more meaningful relations can be established between words and thus perception level had increased. Maintainable Development has been first used at World Protecting Strategy which was prepared by International Society of Nature and Natural Sources Protecting in 1972. Echofeminism termwasfirstincluededat1974ylndadEaubonnesFeminismorDeathachievementin 1974.According to EchoFeminist thinking patriarchal and capitalist sytems have been establishedtodominateuponnatureandwomen,andalsotamingandexploitingthem..

At developing countries %70 of totally 1.3 billion populations is constituted by women workingunderwageofonedollar.Sincewomenareresponsibletotheirfamiliesbyproviding food,fuel andwaterwithoutbasic modern substructureconditions,they alsoexperiencethe energypoverty very intensively.Lackofenergy andsmallscaledenterprise forhouseholds needs limit the womens ability to maintain life. For cooking meal and for heating not reaching reasonable and cheap energy, causes women to intend to traditional sources like wood,coal, fertilizerand agriculturalwaste forheatingandthiscausesphysicalenergyand time losses. Also women at rural fraction cultivate their own food and they do the heavy worksbytheirphysicalstrengthlikecarryingthem.Moreover,iftheydonothavetapwater ormotordrivenpumpstoheavewatertheywastetheirhourstomeetthewaterneedoftheir familiesfromfountainsorprobablydirtywaterandfromcreeks.Atfamilieswithlowincome womeniscookingmealatfireorusingtraditionalenergysourceswithaimofheatingatcold winter months. As a result, those women are exposed to dangerous components to human health and to poisonous gases like carbon monoxide, gasoline and formaldehyde in high 2

ratios. Air pollution at closed places causes bronchitis, tuberculosis, lung cancer and heart diseases and causes 1.6 million humans death per year. Also, it can cause results like low weighted childbirth and cataract. In developing countries poor women living at rural side cause air pollution due totheir socialcultural roles more then men and so they act more to climatechangesmorethenmen.Thefore,givingspecialimportancetowomensenergyneeds in development policies will help the aims regarding health, employment and education for endingpovertyandfightingwithit.

In this work, ecofeminist move and development phenomenon has been combined and solutionsuggestionsaredeveloped.

IIHISTORYOFFEMINISM History of feminism extends much earlier than the 18th century however the feminist movement is basically rooted in the late decades of this century. In the earlier works of feminist movement under the heading of woman problem, the restrained lives of women werecriticizedandopenedtodebatewithoutblamingthemenorputtingforwardtheplightof women.

Befor e1850s Thanks to philosophers such as Lady Mary Wortley Montagu who defended the right of womenforeducation,MarquisdeCondorcetandmanyliberalssuchasJeremyBenthamwho demandedequalrightsforwomanineachandeveryareaoflifefeministideologystartedto blossom during the Enlightenment Period. One of the supporters and defenders of feminist thinkinginthemodernsensewasMexicanJuanaInesdelaCruz(16511695)whodealtwith these issues in her essay The Answer to Sor Philote. The first scientific organization for women was founded in Middleburg, which is in the north of Netherlands in 1785. A

Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792) of Mary Wollstonecraft is one of the first
feminist works but it does not seem as claiming feminist arguments according to modern standards because it brings some qualifications about women such as nobility, elite society, politeness,delicacy,etc.anditcontainssomecomparisonsaboutmoralconcerns.Inherwork, Wollstonecraftassertsherbeliefthatbothsexesareequallyresponsibleinthecreationofthis chaosandshealsoacceptsasatruesituationthatwomenhaveconsiderablepowerovermen.

Egyptian juristQasim Aminwhoisthewriterof thepioneering bookFreedomofWomen Tahrir alMara (1899) is recognized as the father of Arabian Feminist Movement. In this work, Amin criticizes polygamy (Arabian men taking more than one wife), veiling or coveringofwomen,genderdiscriminationagainstwomenandhecondemnsthesepracticesas opposedtotruespiritofIslam.AminsworkhadagreatinfluenceovertheMuslimcountries andArabworldinthepoliticalattemptsandeffortsofwomen.Eventoday,itiswidelyknown andread andpraised for itsprogressivepointof view.Egyptian female activistsbasedtheir discourse in this work beginning from its first edition and they started to read European feminist journals. Thus, the Western women and Middle Eastern women were startedto be compared.

Late19thCentury It is widely accepted that excessively unfair legal treatment towards women is especially startedin18thcentury.However,feministmovementhasitsrootsinreformistmovementof theWesternworldof19thcentury.Ontheotherhand,thefirstorganizedfeministmovement wastheFirstWomenRightsConvention,whichwasheldinSenecaFalls,NewYorkin1848. Emmeline Pankhurst was one of the founders of Suffrage Movement, which defends the rightstovoteofwomen.Thetermsuffragettederivesfromsuffragewhichmeansrightto vote anditisaterm,whichpointsoutthetraditionalsexualdiscriminationinEnglishsociety of that time. Womens Social and Political Union (WSPU) was founded on the frame of suffrage movement. The activities of WSPU, which were illegal and damaging properties, causedtorepeatedarrestsofitsmembers,whichresultedhungerstrikesofthem.Statusquois startedtobequestionedwhen serioushealthproblemsofactivistwomenappearedasprison guards fed these women against their will by nasogastric (extending from nose to stomach) tubes/hoses.Thegovernmentwascompelledtotakeaprecautionaryactionforpreventingthe further damage of these women to their health and it put forward a new law named PrisonersThis CatandMouse Lawof1913 allowed womentobereleased fromprison when their illnesses and injuries reached very dangerous limits and prevented their future arrests even if they were healed. Emma Goldman, Elisabeth Cady Stanton and Margaret Sangerwhoweresomeoftheothersignificantfeministsof19thcenturywerethefoundersof Radical Feminism which defined feminism as a historical struggle between man and womeninotherwordsthebattleofsexes.

20thCentury 4

In many countries, women began toobtain their rights to vote in the beginning of the 20th centuryespeciallyduringthe World WarIorinthe few years followingthewar.The main reason for this change was the public desire to admit (officially) womens contributions to their societies and their countries during the war and to give them their due. Besides, the modern nations were not able anymore to deny the voting rights of women who constitute almosthalfoftheirpopulationasWilsonsPeaceDeclarationoffourteenclausesclaimedthat nationsselfactionsfortheirfutureshastobeadmittedasavitalelement.

The 1920s are importanttimes for women since they obtained the right to vote as well as they gained rights to be legally recognized in many countries. But in the same time, many women were forced to leave their jobs that they got in the war because of the conservative pressures. Nevertheless, a significant number of women continued to work in family businesses,farmsandtraditionalwomenjobsandtheyalsomadeconsiderableprogressesin someworkingareassuchasnursing.

Alsosomeotherprogresswasalsoachieved inthetermsof financial equality between men and women with the emergence of Socialism and Communism. However, women and men havetheirequalplacesinsociallifeintheseregimeswomenstillhavetofacedifferentsocial expectationsthanmen.Socialistfeminismbeingdualisttheory,whichenrichesthearguments of Marxist Feminism, defends that women must have their economical freedom in order to eliminate social restraints over them. Socialist feminist claims that capitalism enhancing financialinequalities,dependencyofwomenonmen,politicalconfusioncausestounhealthy socialrelationshipsbetweenmenandwomenandcapitalismalsoconstitutesthefoundationof pressure and cruelty against women. Since the 1970s, Marxist feminism has been closely interacting with radical feminism. Both and Marxist and radical feminists seek of radical changesinsocialrelationshipsandtheyseethemselvesaspoliticallybelongingtoleftwing. Inspiteofthiscommontrait,usuallytheideologiesofMarxistfeminismandradicalfeminism areopposedtoeachother.

TherewasahierarchicalsocialstructureinNaziGermany,whichcausedwomentohavebeen considerablydependentonmenandtohavebeenplacedininferiorpositioninsociety.Likein Germany, regimes were prevailing in some other countries such as Italy and Afghanistan, which intentionally limited the gender roles of men and women and blocked feminism and activitiesforfreedomofwomenthusactivistmovementsofwomenwereextremelydifficult. 5

These kind regimes caused to emergence of liberal feminism, which accepted women and men as equals on the basis and claimed the necessity of equal participation of them in economicalandpubliclife.

FirstfeministmovementsFirstWaveandfeminismandfeministmovementsemergedafter 1960 is named Second Wave. Second Wave feminists who aimed full social and economicalequalityandputseriouseffortonithadalreadygainedalmostfulllegalequality in most Western countries. The most important success of second wave feminists was womensobtainmentofrightsforpreventingpregnancyandbirthcontrol,whichwaslegally obstructed almost in whole world until the 1960s. With the development of birth control pills,feministshopedthembeingspreadandusedaswideaspossible.Manywomenbelieved that,theuseofpillswouldhavesavewomenfromcaringandraisingunwantedchildrenthus it would have eased the way for economical freedom for women. In addition, the right for abortion was deeply desired but it was a very problematic issue because of intense social opposition.Astoday,abortionisstillverycontroversialissueinmanycountries. During the 20 years following World War II the world faced countless new problems as industrializationgainedspeed.Nuclearresearches,productionofhighlydestructiveweapons, highly increasing population started to deeply wound eco system. Increasing problems broughtthesearchforsolutionswiththemselves.Itisnotacoincidencethatthenotionssuch asDeepEcology,EnvironmentalEthic,SustainableDevelopmentandEcoF eminism enteredintoliteratureinthesametimeperiod.Itcanbesaidthatthe1960sarethesearching years in which many meaningful words were brought forward. The 1970s are even more constructiveyearsinthissensebecausetheyaretheyearsinwhichthesensibleconnections are formed between words therefore the degree of perception is increased. Sustainable DevelopmentwasfirstusedasaterminthewrittenreportcalledWorldProtectingStrategy preparedbyInternationalNatureandNatureandNaturalResourcesProtectingAssociationin 1972whereasEcoFeminismwasfirstusedasatermbydEaubonneinherworkFeminism orDeathin1974.Accordingtothisfeministopinion,patriarchalandcapitalistsystemsare foundedontamingof,exploiting,andreigningovernatureandwomen.

When it was 80s, it is seen that the female flower children of 70s who began to act with slogan of Dont War, Make Love started a new feminist movement. PostFeminist movement, which can be called Third Wave Feminism, was strongly opposed to simplificationofgender astwooppositesexes(man andwoman) inordertosearch forand 6

define the perception of woman other than mother/whore duality. In addition, Postfeminist discourse tries to remove dilemma of feminists/nonfeminists. In the Third Wave, many feminists madeeffortstochangewomenssexualbehaviorsandencouragedwomentohave sexualfreedomandtomakesexwithmultiplesexpartnersforthesakeofsexualpleasureasa reactiontothefactthathavingmultiplesexpartnersisarathertoleratedbehaviourformen. However, even in our days as many women have a single partner it is discussible that in realitywomanhaschangedsexualbehaviorsandattitudesatwhichextent.Ontheotherside, itisclearafter80ssexuallyactivewomenarelessreservedthanearliergenerations.Some feministscriticizethesedevelopmentsinsexualbehaviors.Thesefeministshaveconsidered sexual revolution as a tool used by men for having sexual relations to avoid social responsibilities imposed by traditional social rules. They noticed that due to the ease and relaxationinsexualbehaviorsingeneral,increasingpornographywithoutshame,menstarted toseewomenasarathersexualobject.In80s Catharine MacKinnonand AndreaDworkin areknownfortheirattemptstoclassifypornographyasaviolationofwomenscivilrights.

HistoryofFeminisminTur key Apartofthedemocratic,secular,andmodernrepublicprojectestablishedinTurkeyin1923 consistedofworksfortheimprovementofwomensstatus.Thus,itcanbesaidthatthefirst steps of feminism were taken in this project.The purpose of this approach, which could be calledstatefeminismandwasakindofliberalfeminism,wastorenderwomenspresencein public life like mens. Womens rights to vote and being elected in 1934 appeared as suffragist trends but state feminism lost its haste after certain rights were obtained because activist women acted passively being satisfied with state given rights and they also were influenced by antiliberalist movements appeared atthe end of 60s in the world. Although women had the same legal rights with men, lack of true equality in practice together with womens presence in socially disadvantageous groups has shown its effects and Turkish feminism passed through liberal feminism then socialist feminism, and finally radical feminism which defends that Personal is Political. The small initiatives and ad hoc committees emerged in the 1980s has started a institutionalization process in Turkey and women organizations which adapted different feminist approaches increased in seriously in numbers. The reactions against environmental destruction following the World War 2nd brought some movements such as Deep Ecology, Social Ecology, and EcoFeminism along withit.Butthesemovements,whichofferradicalsolutiontoecologicalproblemsanddefend the necessity of radical changes in social, economical, political structures, have seen little 7

consideration. EcoFeminist movement which was supported under the heading of Deep Ecology and EcoFeminism by Gnseli Tamko in Turkey did not have any influence or could not be institutionalized as other feminist movements did. This feminist movement, whichcanbecategorizedwithinDifferenceFeminismwhichallegedlystartedThirdWave Feminismasacontinuationofculturalfeminism,stressesthedifferentneedsofwomenfacing different environmental problems in different geographical conditions and points out to the differenceofwomanfrommanaboutherconnectiontoenvironment.

B)ECOFEMINISM Seventypercentofthe1.3billionpeopleindevelopingcountrieslivingonlessthanonedollar a day are women, therefore it follows that energy poverty is a problem that has a disproportionate effect on women because they are responsible for supplying their families with food, fuel and water,often withoutthe benefit of basic modern infrastructure. Lackof energyforhouseholdsneedsandsmallscaleenterpriseslimitswomensabilitytotakecare oftheir families andthemselves.Withoutaccess toconvenient,affordable fuels forcooking and heating, women have to spend large amounts of time and physical energy obtaining traditionalfuels(suchaswood,charcoal,dung)andagriculturalwastestohotwaterandcook meals.Atthesametimewomeninruralareasoftenhavetogrowandprocesstheirownfood, and transport heavy loads without any motorized equipment. If they do not have running waterormotorizedpumpsfortheirhomes,womenalsohavetospendtimeeachdaygathering water from taps or possibly polluted wells, rivers or spring. In lowincome homes, women oftenspendmanyhoursadaynearanopenfirecookingmealsor,incoldmonths,tendingit for warts as well. As a result, they are exposed to harmful levels of gases, particles and dangerous compounds, such as carbon monoxide, benzene and formaldehyde. Indoor air pollutionisresponsibleformorethan1.6milliondeathsperyearduetopneumonia,asthma, bronchitis, tuberculosis, and lung cancer and hearth disease. It also causes low birth weight andcataracts.Poorwomenespeciallyinruralareasofdevelopingcountriesgenerallyhavea moredifficulttimecomparedtomen,duetotheirtraditionalsocioculturalrolescausemore amountofairpollutionandconsequentlymakehavecontributiontoclimatechangethenmen.

Although Deep Ecology Movement is a modern/recent movement and started to be widely recognizedfollowingtheWorldWar2nditisideologicallyrootedonthe18thandthe19th century European Romanticism and American Transcendentalism. Romantic Movement can be described as an artistic and intellectual movement in areas such as literature, music, 8

painting,anddrama.Thismovementwasbornasareactiontomaterialchangesinsociallife ofEurope.Romanticssawtheincreaseinpopulationincreaseincitiesduringmaterialchange asindifferentconsumptionofruralpopulationsproducts.Citiesweredepictedastheregions of poverty, misery, and ruin. New bourgeois class replaced land aristocracy of past. A link was formed between land aristocrats and romantics who were against the industrialization. Therebellionagainstnewbourgeoissocialorderbyaristocratsturnedintoafullrefusalofall the values represented by this new order. It can be said that Romantic Movement was presentedasantithesisofMaterialism,Rationalism,Enlightenment,BeingScientific,Reason, Order, and Authority because according to Romantics, emotional, instinctive, intuitive knowledgewasthemostremarkablesideofahumanbeing.

On the other hand, American Transcendentalism was closely related to the conquest and developmentoftheNewWorld.Thisapproachrefusedthedestructionofwildnaturetocreate an artificial paradise garden. Transcendentalists considered themselves being close to EuropeanRomantics.InEnglandGilbertWhitewhowroteSelbornsHistoryofNatureand Burrough, Muir, Thoreau, and Emerson in America are the initiators of romantic transcendentalistconceptualizationofhumannaturerelationship.

From this perspective, Environmental Ethic was constituted by adapting the principles of ethics to ecological crisis as inspired by the works of Aldo Leopold. The basic arguments developed about humannature relationship and instrumentalist and selfvalue of nature. In traditionalEthics,humanbeingsarethecenterandtheyhavenoresponsibilitytoshowrespect nature. On the other hand, in Environmental Ethic, nature has much more value than its instrumental value and human is closely connected to his/her environment. Environmental Ethic discusses about whether the nature has a meaning and value other than defined by humans.AccordingtoLeopoldwhoseworksinfluencedEnvironmentalEthic,broadeningof Ethics to include environment is the result of a process during ecological evolution. In the first stage of this process, Ethics was about the relationship between individuals. The principlesofMosesinTenCommandmentsareoneofthemostperfectexamplesoffirststage ethicsdirectedtotheregulationofrelationshipsbetweenindividuals.Thesecondstagedealt with the relationships between individuals and society. Land Ethic, which is the last stage endingthedominanceofhumanover land,defineshim/herascitizenof land.Thissituation bringing forthrespecttowardsall membersofsocietyrestraintshumans freedom in his/her struggletosurvive. 9

EthicsphilosopherSingersupportstheobligationtorespectanimals. Accordingtothis idea, thebasicprincipleofethicsphysicalpainisbadandeverybodyisresponsibletoreduceitto minimum has to be broadened to include the farm and test animals. The pain of these animalsisneedlesscomparingtothebenefitofhumansfromtheseactsanditisirreparable. Among humans,evennew born, insaneandsenile individuals have legalrightsregardingto theirprotectionfrompainwhereasanimalscanintentionallybeexposedtopain.Thus,rightto besparedfrompainshouldincludeallbeingsthathaveacapacitytofeelpainandpleasure. Asthereisnoreliableevidenceaboutplantscapacityforpainandpleasuretheprincipleto protectfrompainislimitedtofarmandtestanimals.However,inalaterdate,defendsthatthe rightsaboutprotectionfrompainhavetoincludenotonlyanimalsbutalsoallnaturalthings such as trees, stones and rivers because the possibility that pain and pleasure capacity and subjectivity of conscious exists in plants, atoms and active molecules as well as in animals necessitatesbroadeningtheprincipleofprotectionfrompaintocoverallnaturalbeings.

On the other side of the arguments in Environmental Ethic, there are the arguments about sustenanceofhumansdominanceagainsttherefusaloradmittanceofselfvaluesofbeings, which hasacapacitytoexperiencepain. For instance,refutesthe ideathatall beingswhich haveacapacitytofeelpaindeservetoberespectedbecauseoftheirselfthateachandevery oneofthemincludinghumansguardtheirownbenefitsinstruggletosurvive.Therefore,s/he asserts that when there is a conflict of interests between humans and other species humans must guard their interests. Besides, in cultural context, s/he bases the reason of humans dominanceonEarthontheircapacitytotransferknowledgetofuturegenerations.Supporting Murdy,statesthathumanbeingwhoiscapabletoinventaestheticvaluesinnatureoriginates thevalueofnature.

Even though Deep Ecology movement is usually associated with Arne Naess EcosophyT approach,italsofeedsfromothersourcessuchasFarEastreligions,PantheismandNewAge philosophy. Ecofeminists, on the other hand, stressing on the link between patriarchy and ecologic crisis blames deep ecologists as being genderblind. Therefore, the philosophical principlesofBuddhismandEcofeminismoverlapandcomplementeachotherinanumberof areas, mutually supporting an interdependent, systemsoriented view of the environment. There are also several areas in which one of these is underdeveloped in its traditions,

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practices, orteachings and is enhanced or influenced by exposure tothe other. There are 5 areasofconfluence,withsomecommentsondifferencesthatarenotyetfullyaddressed:

ExperimentalKnowing IncontrasttomuchofWesternphilosophyandtheology,Buddhismbeginswiththetruthof personalexperience.Experimentalknowinginrelationshiptospiritualdevelopmentisvalued overtextual,abstractorothersourcesofknowing,whicharedistantfromtheindividual.All weakness,greed,sufferingofpleasureandpain istheresultsof individuals mindpractices. Feminism is equally clear on the importance of experiential knowing as a foundation for socialactionandpersonalinsight.Feministshaveencouragedwomentoreclaim thestoriesof theirlivesandspeakaboutwhattheyknowfromdirectexperience.Therefore,feministshave validated the important realm of subjective knowing that is sourcing from the inner experienceofself.IthasbeenconsistentlydenigratedbyWesternPatriarchalculturesasself centered, romantic and distorted by emotionally. For many women, the experience of knowingisrelatedwiththenaturalworldsuchastherelationbetweenmotherandchild.THE CHILD IN THE WOMB KNOWS ONLY MOTHER AS EARTH IT IS SURROUNDED BY MOTHER, SUSTAINED BY MOTHER, AND CONDITIONED BY MOTHER TO ENVIRONMENT AND CONDITIONS. Likewise, the earth is body to the women, completelyinforming,conditioningandnourishingherlife.Embodiedknowingisasourceof confidenceforembodiedspiritualityandenvironmentalpoliticaction.

ExaminingtheConditionedMind In its essence, Buddhism refuses conditioned mind. But for Buddhism was transferred to almost all patriarchal cultures, the notion of conditioned mind appears inadequate to define the pressure imposed on women and environment although Conditioned Mind approach overlapsecologicindependence.Infeminism,ConditionedMindapproachofBuddhismis integrated with pains caused by the stereotyped examples regarding women. The ways of thinkingwhichseparatesnotionsrationallyandconditionallysuchaswomanman,nightday inatypicalwesternwayofthinkingarerejectedinecofeminism.Duetotheoppressiveand subjectiveapproachofWesternworld,awomanmaybedefinedasasexobjectandevenshe canbepresentedasasexobjectincommercialsfordevelopmentofapowerfulmarket.Brief tosay,itcanbesaidthatfeminismandBuddhismareinanintegrantcooperationbecauseof their deep analytical and critical way of thinking although they use conditioned mind in differentperspectives. 11

 TheTruthofInter relatedness ThislawisoneofthemostobviousconnectionsbetweenBuddhismandtheenvironment.As ecologistspointoutecologicalsystemsisconnectedthroughwater,airandsoilpathways,for example, impacts of chemical pesticides on agricultural lands carry to adjacent wetlands industrial carbon emissions affect global atmospheric climate patterns. Interdependence and interrelationship are central starting points for ecological research of food webs, nutrient cyclesandforestsuccessions.ForbothBuddhismandfeminism,neitherinterdependencenor interrelatedness can be limited with blind faith on each other. Feminist and Buddhist philosophies, which show the way for individual liberation, can be influential to create extremely effective and compassionate participants in the struggle for environmental consciousness.

EmotionalEnergy TheBuddhistpracticeof investigatingconditionedbody,speechand mind includesdetailed observation of the nature of emotions. The first step of healing from suffering of difficult emotions is to recognize and fully claim the rich information and energy response of the body/mind. Rather than suppressing deep emotions, Buddhist practice can help a person developthecapacitytoconsciouslyusethisenergytorelievesuffering.Muchoftheresponse tothecurrentenvironmentalcrisisisanemotionalresponse,filledwithgrief,fearandangerat thelossanddestructionofplants,animals,forestsandwatersheds.Powerfulsocialandgender conditioningcanonlybeoverthrownbyastrongsurgeofenergyanddesireforchange.Anger isveryeffectiveinmarshalingtheenergynecessarytodismantlethestructurethatperpetrates violenceagainstwomenandenvironment.Ontheotherhand,Buddhistmindfulnesspractice is a powerful antidote to widespread despair and depression over the possibility of nuclear annihilation,environmentalcatastropheoroutofcontrolcorporategreed.

RelationalEthicsandSociety A relational ethic studies and calls for comparison according to conditions for all the dual relationships such as parentchild, treeanimal, birdhuman, soilrock, waterfish, woman man. All dual relationships are closely connected to environment. These connections reveal environmental rules and conflicts in environmental sense. Deep Ecologist Bill Dervall, who statesthatallbeingsareininteractionwithallmembersoftheirownbiologicalenvironment

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andtheymaketherulesofthissharedenvironmenttogether,buildsastrongbridgebetween BuddhismFeminismEnvironment.

Asstatedearlier,EcofeministisfirstusedasatermbydEaubonneinherworkF eminism

or Death in 1974. According to dEaubonne who was a former member of French

Communist Party and took part on the foundation of FHAR, which was a homosexual revolutionarymovement,Ecofeminismisabiologycenteredenvironmentalmovementalong with its cultural and social connections. It is a melting pot of ecology and feminism. It is emergedasareactiontomenstreatmentagainstnatureastheytreatedwomenorviceversa equatingwomanandnature.

The same year, right after Francoise dEaubonne, Shelia Colins in her work Another

ParadiseandWorldevaluatinggenderdiscriminationandecologicaldestructioninthesame
context, says, Racism, sexism, class exploitation, and ecological destruction are structures whichshoulderpatriarchalconstructionandtheyarefirmlyclaspedtogether. InherworkNewWoman,NewWorld(1975),Rosemary Ruether leavesthedoorofEco feminismajarinthisway:Womenhavetocomprehendthatthephenomenonofdominance liesonthebasisofsocialrelationshipsandfreedomwillnotbegiventotheminthiskindof structure. If it wants to reshape socioeconomic relationships and form the basic needs of modernindustrialsocietywithintheframeofuniversalvaluesWomanMovementmusthave thesedemandsintegrateintoecologicmovement.

Philosopher Patsy Hallen sees ecofeminism as a broad, diverse, worldwide movement, dedicated to preventing further deterioration of both womens condition and that of nonhumannature.

ThroughthecollectiveworkoftheoristssuchasMathews,Birkeland,Plumwood,Eckersley, Salleh, dEaubonne, Ruether and Hallen, ecofeminism has emerged as a new consciousness aboutnature.Today,largenumberofuniqueecofeministapproacheswasknown:

LIBERALECOFEMINISTSwhoseekreformfromwithinexistingpoliticalandeconomic structures,

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RADICAL ECOFEMINISTS who wish to dismantle those very structures through direct action,

CULTURAL ECOFEMINISTS who focus on the cultural manifestations of the women natureconnection,earthbasedspirituality,goddessreligions,andwitchcraft,

SOCIALECOFEMINISTS

whobuildonthesocialecologymovementoftheAmerican

anarchistphilosopherMurrayBookchin inanattempttorestructurehierarchicalsociety into egalitarian,decentralized,bioregionalcommunities,

SOCIALIST ECOFEMINISTS who draw on neoMarxist philosophies to focus on the relationship between production and reproduction and on womens work in the continued biologicalandsocialreproductionoflifeonEarth,

ECOLOGICAL ECOFEMINISTS who strive to showthe respects in which ecofeminism andscienceofecology(specificallyecosystemecology)sharevitalsimilarities DEEPECOLOGICAL ECOFEMINISTS who draw on the work of Norwegian philosopherArneNaessandstrivetodismantlebothanthropocentrism(humancenteredness) andandrocentrism(malecenteredness),

CRITICAL or TRANSFORMATIVE ECOFEMINISTS who wish totransform the very categoriesofmasculineandfeminineandthedivisivenatureofdualisticrationality,

ABORIGINAL or NATIVE ECOFEMINISTS who live close to nature, nurturing sacred landsandreconsecratingdegradedspaces,

ECOFEMINISTSoftheTHIRDWORLDwhocriticizemaldevelopmentintheFirstWorld andshowushowwomenofcolormaybeinaprivilegedpositionbecausetheirmindsarenot yetcolonized.

C)ECOFEMINISMINTHEFRAMEOFDEVELOPMENTECONOMICS RachelCarsontookthefirststepinthesenseofsustainabledevelopmentin1962.Inherstudy on toxicology, environmental science and widespread diseases, which was titled Silent Spring, Carson demonstrated the destructive effects of agricultural pesticides, pointing out 14

those characteristics of these effects, which are hazardous to the animal species and to the humanhealth.Whilestudiesinthistopiccontinuedthroughoutthe70s,onecouldsaythatthe publication titled Limits to Growth, which was made in 1972 by the Rome Club, gave a whole new dimension to the studies conducted for creating the balance intended to be established between the economy, the society and the environment. The term sustainable development was used for the first time in the document of the International Union for Nature and Natural Resources Conservation (IUNC) titled World Protection Strategy. As Ms. Brundlant, President of the World Commission for Environment and Development established in 1983, said: The duty of turning to the future and to assure the interests of future generations has been undertaken. According to Brundlant It is wrong to restrict the phenomenon of development to the economic activities that the poorer countries engage in ordertosurvive.Whatwecallenvironmentiswherewealllivein,anddevelopmentcomes by as an outcome of all the activities that we carry out for improving our situation in that environment. The use of this term became widespread in the whole world thanks to the documenttitled OurShared Future,whichwas drafted in1987 bythe WorldCommission forEnvironmentandDevelopment.InthisdocumenttitledOurSharedFuture,whichisalso knownastheBrundlantReport,sustainabledevelopmentisdefinedasfollows: Sustainabledevelopment isthe meetingofpresentneedswithoutrestrictingtheability and meansoffuturegenerationstoprovidefortheirneeds. This definition is based on two approaches. The first approach, as a prerequisite of the anthropocentric approach, places human in the center, and focuses on meeting the present andfuturefundamentalneedsofhuman,especiallythepoor.Thesecondapproach,inaneco centricway,placestheecologicalbalanceinthecenter,andaimsatnotrestrictingthenatural abilityoftheenvironmenttomeetpresentandfutureneedsasaresultofalltheattemptsmade inordertomeethumanneeds.Withthisdefinition,thequestionofinequalityofopportunities between generations in the use of natural resources emerged in addition to the question of economicinequalitybetweenindividuals.

Womenconstitutemorethanhalfoftheworldpopulation.Thereforeitisnotpossibletoreach towelfareandprovideasustainabledevelopmentwithoututilizingthepowerofwomen.The factsofwomanandenvironmentcanneverbethoughtinaonedimensionalwayduetotheir complexity. If the problems under these two headings are intended to be solved highly disciplinedactionsareneeded.Whenitislookedattheworksandresultsuptothispointany 15

policy being developed by placing woman in the center is not successful. First of all, the socialroleofwomanshouldberedefined,theyshouldbeheldresponsibleforeverythingthat can be done by men and they should be given necessary rights to do the same things with men.Sexualequalityisnotjustanissueofhumanrightofsocialjusticeatthesametimeitis animportantcomponentofmainthemessuchashumansafety,environmentalprotectionand sustainable development. Thus, a special focus on womens energy needs in development policiescanhelppromotionofothergoalsrelatingtopovertyeradication,health,employment and education. Where, the key challenge is to ensure that gender sensitivity is incorporated into overall planning and decisionmaking procedures so that gender concerns are fully mainstreamed.Gendermainstreamingrequirespositiveaction: Atthepolicylevel,toensurethatthechallengeofgenderequalitybecomesavisible andkeyconcern. At the program level, to ensure that all energy interventions create opportunities for womensempowermentandgenderequality. At the organizational level, to ensure that space and opportunities are available to womenaswellasmen.

Genderindicatorsaregenerallymorequalitativethanquantitative.Thus,formainstreamingof genderperspectivesintotherelatedpolicies,afirststepwillbethecollectionofrelevantdata abouthowmenandwomenconsidertheirenergyneeds.Thegenderdisaggregateddatacan becollectedbyconcerning: Thepercapitaenergyconsumptionformenandwomenrespectively. Theshareofnoncommercialenergyusedbymenandwomen. Thepurposesforwhichenergyisused. Theamountoftimespentandtheeffortmadebymenandwomeninprovidingenergy fortheiractivities. Theamountthateachpaysforenergy. Thelevelofrelativerisksthanmenandwomenface.

D)ECOFEMINISMINSUSTAINABLEDEVELOPMENT

UNPOLITICIES

16

Inthelastdecade,thedangerscausedbyexhaustionofnaturalresources,corruptioninnatural systems, and substances polluting environment are seriously realized. These unfavorable conditions have been destroying vulnerable ecologic systems, preventing societies especially women from productive actions and presenting a increasing threat to a safe and healthy environment. Poverty and environmental corruption are in close interaction. While poverty createscertainenvironmentalproblems,themainreasonofcorruptioninglobalenvironmental conditions is nonsustainable consumption and production model especially in industrialized countries.Thisisaworrisomeissue,whichworsensthispovertyandunbalance.Therisingof sealevelsasaresultofglobalwarmingisaseriousandsuddenthreatforthepeoplewholive in island countries and coasts. The use of substances deteriorating ozone layer such as chlorofluorocarbons, halogens, methyl bromides (that they are made of plastics) have been negativelyaffectingatmosphereandcausinganexcessiveexposuretoharmfulultravioletrays. These rays increasing the risk of skin cancer, sight deficiencies and weakening immunity system deteriorate human health and besides this condition has harmful effects in ecologic balancebydamagingoceanlifeandcrops. All governments and people have to cooperate considering eradication of poverty as their essential responsibility in order to decrease inequalities in living standards and to cover majorityofworldpopulationsneedsasanunavoidableconditionofsustainabledevelopment. In addition to hurricanes, typhoons, other natural disasters destruction of natural resources, violence, the other effects of wars, arms race and other disagreements, testing and using of nuclearweaponsandforeigninvasionsmaycontributetoenvironmentalcorruption. The corruption of natural resources also produces significant negative effects in peoples health,welfare,andlivingstandardsespeciallywomenandgirlsofallagesinbothincities andruralareas.Thespecialconditionofwomenwholiveinruralareasandworkinagriculture should be separately handled. Giving them opportunities to have education, loan and development programs may increase womens contributions to sustainable development. Environmental risks at home and workplace may bring unfavorable effects to their health becauseoftheir higher vulnerabilityofexposure totoxiceffectsof variouschemicals.These dangers threatening womens health are higher in lowincome areas in which highly concentratedindustrialfacilitiespollutetheenvironmentandespeciallyinruralareas. Womenmaintaintheirfamiliesandsocietiesbyusingandmanagingnaturalresources.They play an important role in providing a sustainable development as keepers and educators of 17

their families due to their concern for sustenance and quality of life for present and future generations. However they are absent in the political formations about natural resources, environmental management,environmentalprotectionandrehabilitation,politicalformation, anddifferentlevelsofdecisionmakingmechanisms.Thus,theirabilitiesandknowledgesare ignoredinformingofpolicies.But,forages,womenhavebeenundertakingaleaderposition indevelopinganenvironmentalmoralforminimizingresourceexcessconsumptionandwaste and also in recycling waste. Women are rarely educated in subjects like environment, city planning, agriculture, or marine science. Even when women are educated as professional natural resource managers, they are represented many times at insufficient proportions in local, national or international official institutions and organizations with policymaking capacity. Women do not have seats with equal rights on the management of financial institutions or companies, which strongly influence the environmental quality with their decisions.Inadditions,althoughthenumberofwomenorganizationswithoutofficialidentity, whichoperatesateverylevel,isincreasingrecently,thereisausualweaknessincooperation between these women organizations and national institutions and organization related to environmental subjects. Womens contributions to environmental management, including activitiesforenvironmentalprotectionarerealizedatlocallevel.Women,especiallywomen of local population, have knowledge and experience about special ecological relations and sensitivemanagementofecosystem.Inmanysocietieswomenrepresentbasicworkforceof minimum production including sea products production for this reason their role is very important for providing food and nourishment, developing unofficial sectors and environmental protection. Women are generally most consistent members of the society in some locations as men are outside of their houses most of the time and as they leave preservation of natural habitat and appropriation of sustainable and enough resources to women. Governments and other decisionmaking mechanisms should have execute some measures in order to increase womens activities for environmental management and if necessary they should implement reverse discrimination policies. Strategic activities needed for a healthy environmental management require integrity, a multifaced discipline and an international approach. Since 1972, in all international processes for development strategies, it is emphasizedthatsustainabledevelopmentcanbeobtainedifenergypoliciesandenvironmental policies are overlapping and gender equality is included in these policies. In addition, according to the decisions made in international processes, it is absolutely accepted that

18

sustainable development policies without men and womens equal participation cannot be successful inthe longterm. Forthisreason,womensexperienceaboutecologically healthy
st environmentandthecontribution,whichtheycanprovide,musttakeacentralpositionin21

centurysagenda.Sustainabledevelopmentwouldbeanunattainabletargetaslongaswomen contributiontoenvironmentalmanagementisnotacceptedandnotsupported. InternationalprocessesrealizedonthesubjectofSustainableDevelopmentcanbecitedas: At1972UNConfer enceontheHumanEnvironment inStockholm,energywasdealtwith primarilyasasourceofenvironmentalstress. At 1992 UN Confer ence on Environment And Development in Rio de Janeiro (Earth Summit),energy was mostlyaddressed inthecontextof itscontributiontoclimatechanges. However, in Agenda 21, although, the plan of action adopted atthe Earth Summit, does not have an energy chapter, its emphasis was on extending the benefits of development to all people, both men and women. The advancement of women was recognized as an essential elementofsustainabledevelopment,andwomenwereidentifiedasamajorstakeholdergroup forprovidinginputintotheworkofthecommissiononsustainabledevelopment. At 1994 Conference on Population in Cairo energy poverty was a problem that had a disproportionateeffectonwomenbecauseseventypercentofthe1billionpeopleindeveloping countrieslivingonlessthanonedollaradayarewomen. At 1994 UN Framewor k Convention of Climate Change was entered into force that was signedattheEarthSummit.Itwasfocusedonreducinggasemissionsespecially. At 1995 Wor ld Summit for Social Development in Copenhagen, a number of women working in energy sector came together and established ENERGIA. The basic aim of ENERGIAasaninternationalnetworkistohelpcreatelinkagesbetweenenergyprofessional andgenderexpertsandtopromotesocialconsciousnessaboutenergyissues. At 1995 Fourth Wor ld Conference on Women in Beijing, it was addressed the lack of adequate recognition and support for womens contribution to conservation and management of natural resources and safeguarding the environment. In addition, the importance of governmentsandotherdecisionmakerspromotiontomainstreamagenderperspectiveinall policiesandprogramswasemphasized.

19

BeijingActivityDeclarationandPlatformhasdeterminedthreestrategictargetinthefieldof womenandenvironmentasitfollows: Womensactiveparticipationatevery leveltothedecisionmaking mechanismsrelated toenvironmentmustbeprovided. For sustainable development subjects related to gender and point of views must be unifiedinpoliciesandprograms. In order to evaluate effect of policies for development and environment on women, mechanismsmustbebuiltandstrengthenedatlocal,nationalandinternationallevels.

If5yearsfollowingBeijingActivityPlatformareconsidered,accomplishmentsinthefieldof womenandenvironmentareasfollows:

Thereisapositiveinclinationbasedonexperiencetowardhigherparticipationofwomen tothedecisionsrelatedtoenvironment. Advancestoconstituteagenderperspective,inadditiontoorganizationalarrangements, atnational,internationalenvironmentalactivities,policies,plansandlawsaremade.. Womensabilitiesan d strength is increased including their knowledge, experience and organizations in environmentalfields. Quality and quantity of environmental research and data sensitive to gender are increased. Activitiesforeconomicalstrengtheningofwomenareincreasedinnumber.

However constraints for further developments related to women and environment are determinedduringthese5years.Theyareasfollows: Lowerwomenparticipationtoenvironmentalprotectionand management,development ofenvironmentalpolicies,environmentalplanninganditsapplications. Men monopoly inthe managementofenvironmentalresourcesandwomens lowerand insufficientinfluenceinpositionsrequiringresponsibility. Lowerparticipationofwomentoresearchandeducationrelatedtonaturalsciences. Insufficiencyofenvironmentalpoliciesprogramsandresearchessensitivetogender. Lackofwomenparticipationondecisionmakingprocessesincludingfundprocurement andobservation.

20

 Womenslowerleveloftechnicalandmanagerialskills Loweracceptanceofwomentoresources,knowledge,educationandtraining.

At 2001, 9th Session of the UN Commission of Sustainable Development, world leaders stressedtheimportanceofenergyforimprovingpeoplesqualityoflifeandshowedthedeep connectionbetweentheenergyservicesandthe2000MillenniumDevelopmentGoals.

Important successes on women and environment obtained by World Summit for Sustainable Development: As a basic human right all human beings, especially girls, young and adult womens educationlevelmustberaised. Effortsmustbedonelifelongateachlevel,ateachconditionandsituationandinevery fieldforequalityofgendersineducation. Equalcontributionofmenandwomentoscienceandtechnology. Especiallyemphasizingwomenrightsculturaldiversityandpluralismmustbeprotected andsustained. Equal contribution and representation rights must be provided in media, to communicationscienceandtechnology Participativedemocracymustbeobtained,providingequalityofmenandwomeninreal sense. Consequently, in the 2002 Wor ld Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg energy isstressed asa critical factorforachievingtheMDGs.The basicdecisions in WSSD declarationareasfollows: Energymustbeconsideredasbasichumanneedssuchascleanwater,sanitation,shelter, healthcare,foodandsecurity. Womens equal access to and full participation in, on the basis of equality with men, decisionmakingatalllevelsshouldbeprovidedandpromotedbymainstreaminggender perspectives in all policies and strategies, eliminating all forms of violence and discriminationagainstwomen,andimprovingthestatus,healthandeconomicwelfareof womenandgirlsthroughfullaccesstoeconomicopportunityland,credit,educationand healthcareservices.

21

The aims of Millennium Development Targets to integrate woman with environment are as follows:

Target1:Reducebyhalftheproportionofpeoplelivingonlessthanadollaraday

A)Howenergycontributestoachievinggoalsandtargets More efficient fuels and fuel efficient technologies reduce the time and share the household incomespentondomesticenergy needs forcooking, lighting,andheating (poorpeoplepayproportionatelymoreforenergy)(Reddy,2000) Reliableandefficientenergycanimproveenterprisedevelopment. Lightingpermitsincomegeneratingactivitiesbeyonddaylighthours. Energy can be used to power laborsavinga machinery and increase productivity of enterprises.

B)Genderper spective Womenandgirlsaregenerallyresponsiblefortheprovisionofenergyforhousehold use,includinggatheringfuelorpayingforenergyforcooking,lightening,andheating. Whenwomenstimeandincomeisfreedupfromtheseactivities,theycanreallocate theirtimetoward: (i)Tendingtoagriculturaltasksandimprovingagriculturalproductivity (ii)Developingmicroenterprisestobuiltassets,increaseincome,andimprovefamily wellbeing

Target2:Reducebyhalftheproportionofpeoplewhosufferfromhunger

A)Howenergycontributestoachievinggoalsandtargets Improvedaccesstocooking fuelsandenergyefficienttechnologies increasesthe availableofcookedfuels(%95ofstaplefoodsneedtobecookedbeforetheycan beeaten). Pumped water for drinking, cooking needs, and irrigation systems deliver more waterthancanbecarried. Mechanical energy can be used to power laborsaving machinery and increase productivityalongthefoodchain(forexample,byprocessingagriculturaloutputs throughmillingandhusking). 22

 Improvedaccesstoefficientfuelandtechnologiesreducespoorharvestlossesand waterneeds.

B)Genderper spective Womenaregenerallyresponsibleforcookingandfeedingtheirfamiliesandoften forsubsistenceagricultureandfoodprocessing. Awelldevelopedagriculturalsectorhelpstopromoteeconomicopportunitiesfor women,allowingthemtobuildassets,increaseincome,andimprovefamilywell being.

Target3:Ensurethatallboysandgirlscompleteafullcour seofprimaryschooling

A) Howenergycontributestoachievinggoalsandtargets Access to efficient fuels and technologies frees up the time of children, who areoftenpulledoutofschooltohelpwithsurvivalactivities(fetchingwood, collecting water, cooking inefficiently, crop processing by hand, manual farmingwork). Energycancreateachildfriendlyenvironment(throughaccesstocleanwater, sanitation,lightingandspaceheating/cooling) Lighteninginschoolsallowsnightclasses.

B) Genderperspective Girls are more likely to be taken out of school to help with domestic and agriculturalchoresthanboys. Spendingonschooling,especiallyforgirls,increaseswithhigherincomesfor women. School attendance can be increased with access to clean water and sanitation facilities.

23

Target4:Eliminategenderdisparityineducation

A)Howenergycontributestoachievinggoalsandtargets Electricity enables access to educational information and information communications Streetlighteningimprovesthesafetyofwomenandgirlsatnight,allowingthemto attendnightschoolsandparticipatecommunityactivities

B)Genderper spective Womenaremorelikelythanmentobeilliterate. Womenarelesslikelythanmentohaveaccesstoinformationandbeincludedin politicalandcommunitylife. Target5:Reducebytwothirdsthemortalityrateamongchildrenunderfive

A)Howenergycontributestoachieving goalsandtargets Cleaner fuels and technologies help reduce indoor pollution, which contributes to respiratoryinfectionsthataccountforupto%20ofthe11milliondeathsinchildren eachyear. Traditionalstovescanbeunsafe(causing,forexample,burnsandhouseholdsfires) Cooked food, boiled water and space heating contribute to improved nutrition and health.

B)Genderper spective Womenhaveprimarycareforthehealthofchildren. Womenandyoungchildrenspendthemosttimeindoors. Womenandgirlsgenerallyresponsibleforcooking,oftenwithunventilatedopen fires.

Target6:Reducebythreequarter sthematernalmortalityratio

A) Howenergycontributestoachievinggoalsandtargets Energy services can provide access to better medical facilities, including medicinerefrigeration,equipmentsterilization,andoperatingtheatres.

24

 Energycanbeusedtoproduceanddistributeinformationonsexeducationand contraceptives.

B)Genderper spective Excessive workload and heavy manual labor (for example, carrying heavy loads of fuel wood and water arduous and repetitive agricultural and food processingtasks)mayaffectpregnantwomenshealthandwellbeing. Target9:Reverselossofenvironmentalresources

Target10:Reducebyhalftheproportionofpeoplewithoutsustainableaccesstosafe drinkingwater

A)Howenergycontributestoachievinggoalsandtargets Over harvesting, land clearing, or environmental degradation can make fuel woodmorescarce,forcingthepoortotravelfartherandspendmoretimeand physicalenergyinsearchforfuel. Availability of cleaner fuels and energyefficient equipment reduces demand forfuelwoodandcharcoal,preventsuseofdung,andreducesairpollutionand greenhousegasemissions. Motorized pumps help provide more clean water for drinking and sanitation thatcanbecarriedbypeopleoranimals.

B)Genderper spective Women and girls are generally responsible for gathering fuel wood and collectingwater. The chances of sexual assault and other risks (for example, of snake bites) increasesthefurtherwomenandgirlsmusttravel

EUPOLITICIES The equality between women and men became an issue with the formation of the Big European Project in 1957, and during 48 years, a significant development achieved in the gender equality field. Regarding Gender Perspective, this progress has been achieved, particularly inthe fieldofeconomyratherthan socialandenvironmentalpolicies.Whenwe lookattheEuropeanUnionhistoryintermsofgenderequality,weseethattodaysstateof 25

play is the result of longstanding and forcible struggles. Historically, the visibility of the womensissueswasrealizedbytheArticle119oftheRomeTreaty(1957),whichisoneof thefoundingtreaties.ItwastheFrenchdelegation,whichoriginallydemandedthatanequal pay provision be included in the 1957 Treaty of Rome. For France was the only country to possessequalpaylawsatthetime,andFrenchemployerssawthisasapotentialbarriertofair andequalcompetitionamongmemberstatesFrenchdelegationhaveitincludedinthetreaty. But, this article could not be implemented in the Member States. However, as to be first VogelPolskyandtheotherpioneerwomenlawyers,activistsandwomenworkersintensive effortshaveopenedaroadfortherelevantcasesandrulingsoftheEuropeanCourtofJustice. As a consequence of these cases, Article 119 first have been started to be implemented in Belgium,andtheothermembershavefollowedthiscountry.

Today, this article, which can be seen as the startingpoint of the recognition of womens rights within the European Union, takes place in the Treaty of Amsterdam (1997) with its modifiedversionasArticle141:EachMemberStateshallensurethattheprincipleofequal payformaleandfemaleworkersforequalworkorworkofequalvalueisapplied.Theother articlesofthistreaty,regardingtogenderequalityareArticle2,3,13,and137.Article3of theAmsterdamTreatyalsoknownasEuropeanUnionTreatyisimportantforitincorporates gendermainstreaming* whichcanbeseenasoneoftheimportantoutcomeoftheUNFourth World Womens Conference in Beijing (1995), into Union policies and programs. According to this article, European Union, for the first time, has foreseen Social Gender Equality Perspective as integrated into all political spheres without limiting it just to employmentpolicies.

E)CURRENTSITUATIONandCOMMENTSforTURKEY:

CURRENTSITUATION As stated by the last regular report of the European Commission, more than half of the female population have experienced violence in their lives by their husbands, partners or anothermalefromtheirfamilies.
*

Gendermainstreaming,isdefinedasaprocessofsystematically incorporatinggenderperspectivesintoareasof workandassessingtheimplicationsforwomenandmenofanyplannedaction,includinglegislation,policiesor programs.Itisastrategyformakingwomensandmensconcernsandexperiencesanintegraldimensionofthe design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies and programs in all political, economic, environmentalandsocietalspheressothatwomenandmenbenefitequallyandinequalityisnotperpetuated.

26

Despite that the rate of violence against women is also high in the European countries, the realityofhonorkillingsappearsasthemostsignificantthreatfortheir(Turkishwomens) livesandtheir(Turkish womens)oneoftheprimary fundamentalrights righttolive.In general,thenewsaboutviolenceagainstwomenandthevictimsofhonorkillingstakeplace at the third page of newspapers. Unfortunately, on these issues, Turkey does not have any appropriatestatisticsordata. When we look at the existing data, according to the results of a state executed general research in 1994, 34 %of married men turned outto be applying physical violence against their wives. The results of researches made by Women NGOs showed that 97 % of the married women face violence at least once in their lives including oral violence. In one of suchresearches,madeinAnkara,itwasdeterminedthat1/5thofthemarriedwomenendup in hospital because of rape and physical violence at home, between 815 % of the married womenarethreatenedorallyorbydifferentdevices.Thenumberofhonorkillingshasbeen increasedoverthepastyearsandreached54during20002004.

In Turkey, the total number of employees is 23.095.000. According to the 2004 statistics, women unemployment increased 10.5% percent (2003) to 12.4% percent by 2004. In addition, employed womens salary is only 60% percent of males. According to these statistics,thelabourforceparticipationrateofthe15+femalepopulationinTurkeyisabout half of the corresponding rate for men, i.e. approximately 2529 %. In the EuropeanUnion MemberStates,therateis42%percent,andwithLisbonStrategythisrateisaimedas60% percent.

ThefollowingtablesshowtherecentsituationinTurkeyintermsofemployment:

TABLE1EmploymentRatesinTurkey
2000 48.90% 71.67% 26.16% Source: www.kagider.org/en_statistics Gr oup Total Men Women 2001 47.80% 69.32% 26.30% 2002 46.71% 66.87% 26.57% 2003 45.53% 65.88% 25.19%

TABLE 2 Regarding Education Level, Participation to Labour Force of Women and Men(Turkey,Urban,Rural/1999)
TURKEY URBAN RURAL

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EducationLevel Illiter ate Liter atewithout Diploma Pr imar ySchool Secondar ySchool VocationalSecondar y School HighSchool VocationalHighSchool Faculty Total

Female 27.0 20.6 30.5 17.0 3.4 33.2 44.7 71.8 29.7

Male 51.2 46.2 73.0 56.7 34.9 71.0 78.2 84.7 68.3

Female 5.5 7.5 10.8 12.1 3.8 28.6 40.4 71.3 15.8

Male 40.7 35.1 67.2 53.5 25.0 67.9 76.2 83.7 64.3

Female 42.5 35.6 52.9 30.3 50.4 66.8 77.7 47.6

Male 57.2 55.1 79.0 62.4 54.1 80.2 85.3 90.5 73.7

Source:DE/HHA,Nisan1999inEcevit,Y.(2002).almaYaamndaKadnEmeininKullanmveKadn Erkek Eitlii, KadnErkek Eitliine Doru Yry: Eitim, alma Yaam ve Siyaset, TUSIAD, No T20013/294

Ontheotherhands,atlabourmarkets,thereisadeepgenderpaygapasitisdisplayedbythe followingtable.

TABLE3averagemonthlyearningbymaincharacteristics,1994
[12year sandover populationemployedasr egular employeeandcasualemployee) Public Pr ivate Female Male M/F Female Male Educational status Illiterate 5950,0 7260,1 1,2 1286,2 3152,2 Literatewithout diploma&primary school 5691,6 7885,1 1,4 1798,3 3850,0 Generaljuniorhigh school&highschool Vocationaljuniorhigh school&vocational highschool University&higher Occupational gr oup Scientific,technical, professionalandrelated workers Administrative, executiveand managerialworkers Clericalandrelated workers Salesworkers Serviceworkers Agriculturalanimal husbandry,forestry workers,fishermen Nonagricultural productionandrelated workers Br anchof 5324,0 7663,7 1,4 3003,3 4956,9

M/F

2,5

2,1 1,7

5881,2 7396,6

9215,3 9691,7

1,6 1,3

4134,6 8730,5

5427,7 1,3 12910,5 1,5

6653,7

7768,9

1,2

4267,4

6390,8

1,5

8956,0 5396,5 3227,8 4408,7

9390,3 7021,5 7802,3 6514,4

1,0 1,3 2,4 1,5

11932,0 14169,3 1,2 4157,8 2880,8 2434,7 6397,8 4967,0 3567,6 1,5 1,7 1,5

1457,3

6279,9

4,3

885,3

2196,3

2,5

7778,3

9793,0

1,3

2111,6

4096,8

1,9

28

economic activity Agriculture Miningandquarrying Manufacturing Electricity,gasand water Construction Wholesaleandretail trade,restaurantsand hotels Transportation, communicationand storage Finance,insurance,real estate,businessservices Community,socialand personalservices 2248,9 9776,2 7682,2 5732,3 2,5 11478,3 1,2 10727,5 1,4 862,3 2744,8 2427,0 2931,9 2199,7 4843,4 4864,8 8164,9 4016,8 2,6 1,8 2,0 1,4

6608,6 10297,3 1,6 10436,0 11437,2 1,1

6000,1

7122,9

1,2

2922,8

3960,3

1,4

5333,4 7386,8

8023,2 9081,2

1,5 1,2

6647,5 4701,0

5098,4 6094,9

0,8 1,3

6115,2 7404,7 1,2 2639,8 4297,3 1,6 Sizeof establishment Lessthan2 3140,5 4234,2 1,3 1592,7 2571,8 1,6 24 5262,7 6506,0 1,2 2564,7 3900,7 1,5 59 6270,7 7761,0 1,2 2743,3 5016,2 1,8 1019 6897,2 9009,3 1,3 3801,9 5914,5 1,6 20+ 7352,1 9196,8 1,3 2688,9 5680,0 2,1 Computed by Social Structure and Gender Statistics (SIS) by using raw data of Income Distribution Study1994(SIS)

Source: http://www.die.gov.tr/tkba/istatistikler.htm

In the lights of the facts that were given above, it can be easily said that in Turkey, labour marketsdiscriminateagainstwomenwomenfacediscriminationateverystagestartingfrom thedecisiontoenterthelabourmarket.Themalebreadwinnermodelandtheprovisionsthat basedonthisperspectivearestillquitecommoninnumerousEuropeancountries,especially within liberalandsocialcapitalistMemberStatesoftheUnion.However, inourcountry, if we consider the unpaid agricultural women workers and invisible women production in domesticlife,thepicturebecomesmoreserious.

Themajorityofruralemploymentisunpaidfamilyworkers,andtherateoffemaleworkersin theruralemploymentis40.4%percent.Therefore,despitethattheunpaidfamilyworkersare only1.8%whileinTurkeythisraterisesto29.6%percent.Theriseinpovertyincreasesthe mass of poor women. Discrimination through inheritance and divorce impoverishes women and no protective measure is taken against this. The insufficiency of the measures toward mitigatingthedamagesbroughtbycrisesandglobalizationincreasesfemalepoverty.

29

Many women working in the informal sector do not qualify themselves as workers and therefore are not interested in whether they possess the rights of workers or not. The institutionsandorganizationsrelatedtothelabourmarketforgetwomenasinvisibleworkers at the margins. Therefore, the accession process for the EU Membership will open new horizonsforwomen,despitethattheyarelimitedwiththeprovisionsatemploymentsphere.

Therateofwomenemployees inTurkey,which isextremely low foracountryasthe same development level, shows that employment market does not attract women or the existing datadoesnotincludethepart,whichispreferredbywomen.

Inadditiontothegivenfactsabove,womenhavebeenfacingwithdiscriminationforentryto thelabormarketandrecruitmentprocedure,andtheycannotfreelydecidetheirjobsbecause oftheoperationalsegregation.Theprincipleofequaltreatmentinemploymentwasincluded in the Labour Law, which was enacted in 2003. However, legislation is developed without taking women into account. Women are only taken into consideration in a limited way for birthandpregnancymeasuresareoverprotectiveandlimitedtonotallowingworkduringthe night,undergroundandunderwater.

Whenwelooktothefieldofeducation,wealmostfacewiththesamegenderinequalities.As of2000,19.4percentofthepopulation inTurkey isreportedtobeilliterate.The illiteracy rate among women in Eastern and Southeastern Anatolia reaches 39 per cent. That means, discriminationagainstwomenineducationstillcontinuesdespitethestatements.

ThefollowingtablesshowthecurrentsituationinTurkeyintermsofeducation.

TABLE4NonInstitutionalCivilianPopulationsbyEducationStatus2001
15year sandover Illiter ate Liter atewithoutanddiploma Pr imar yschool(year s) Pr imar yeducation(8year s) J unior highschool&equivalent HighSchool&equivalent Highereducation&univer sity TOTAL Female 4,983 1,102 11,093 471 1,610 2,805 1,036 23,100 % 21.6 4.8 48.0 2.0 7.0 12.1 4.5 100.0 Male 1,275 948 10,808 608 3,045 4,605 1,667 22,956 % 5.6 4.1 47.1 2.6 13.3 20.1 7.3 100.0

Source:HouseholdLabourForceStatistic,2001,SIS

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TABLE5SchoolAttendancebyAge(% )
TURKEY Female Total 611 1214 1517 Male Regions Total 611 Mar mara 1214 Aegean 1517 Mediter r anean Centr alA. Blacksea Easter nA. SouthEastA. Tur key 74,8 90,5 74,4 43,6 Liter ate Illiter ate 82,7 nodiploma M F F 92,9 M 3.5 11.8 86,6 18.3 19.4 4.7 15.8 58,2 19.0 19.7 5.7 18.0 22.2 22.3 4.4 15.0 20.4 20.9 6.6 21.5 22.5 22.3 11.3 34.1 26.7 24.4 12.4 35.4 27.8 25.7 6.1 19.4 21.5 21.5 Ur ban 79.0 90,4 79,8 55,2 Pr eliminar y School 84,9 M F 93.0 39.7 41.0 89,8 42.8 42.1 64,5 37.0 36.8 34.7 39.0 38.1 38.8 29.2 27.3 31.4 26.1 36.9 37.2 Rur al 68,8 90,7 67,3 26,4 J unior high Basic school education 79,5 M F M 92,8 F 10.3 6.3 53.1 82,2 49.9 8.9 4.7 54.6 47,8 49.2 9.2 5.0 49.6 44.5 10.5 5.3 48.6 47.0 8.9 3.9 50.6 45.2 9.1 3.5 41.5 32.9 8.1 3.2 42.7 31.3 9.5 4.9 49.6 44.6

High school M F 17.1 13.4 14.9 10.8 16.0 11.4 18.6 12.1 15.1 8.5 16.0 6.8 13.1 5.9 16.1 10.6

Higher education M F 8.0 5.5 6.9 4.5 6.5 3.8 8.1 5.0 5.2 2.4 4.6 1.8 4.0 1.7 6.6 3.9

Source: ChildLabourSurvey,1999,SIS

TABLE6DistributionofLiteratePopulationacrossDiffer entRegions
Source: 2003ConsensusofPopulation,SIS

Finaly, for being able to change the existing picture for the womens status, womens participation to the decisionmaking processes should be increased. However, as it is displayedbelow,theexistingfeatureisstillfarfrombeingabletoreachequalrepresentation.

TABLE7WomeninthePar liamentinTur key

ELECTION YEAR 1935 1939 1943 1946 TOTAL 399 424 455 465 WOMEN 18 16 16 9 MEN 381 408 439 456 WOMEN% 4.5 3.8 3.5 1.9

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1950 1954 1957 1961 1965 1969 1973 1977 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2002

487 541 610 450 450 450 450 450 400 450 450 450 500 500

3 4 8 3 8 5 6 4 12 6 8 13 23 24

484 537 602 447 442 445 444 446 387 444 442 437 527 526

0.6 0.7 1.3 0.7 1.8 1.1 1.3 0.9 3.0 1.3 1.8 2.9 4.2 4.4

Source: StateInstituteofStatistics,WomensNetwork,www.die.gov.tr

COMMENTS

THEFIRSTSTEP:TrainingProgrammes

A)InFormalTraining Girlsaremorelikelytobetakenoutofschooltohelpwithdomesticandagriculturalchores thanboys.Thus,bythehelpofthepunishmentmechanismsthroughlaws,allthegirlsshould reachtheschoolingchanceliketheboys.Therefore,thebooksbeingreadinformaleducation should be scrutinized and gender roles should be corrected according to the needs of the modernage.

B)InInFor malTraining Themethodologyshouldbedevelopedintheframeworkoflifelonglearning.Thefirststage of the program should give New Life Style to women. The curriculum that will be developedforgainingnewlifestyleshouldhave: Provideselfconfidence. Increaseknowledgeabouthouseholdmanagement. Increaseknowledgeaboutpublichealthissues. Increaseknowledgeaboutenvironmentalissues. Increaseknowledgeaboutfreedomsandresponsibilitiesonlegalbasis. Increaseawarenessaboutimportanceofemployment.

The2ndStageoftheprogram should bedeveloped inthe frameworkof vocationaltraining thatwillincreasetheemploymentchanceandtheparticipationcapacityofthewomeninthe 32

community development as well. During the vocational training courses, women should encourage for the entrepreneurship by providing micro credits from the public bodies for voluntarypartnerships.

THESECONDSTEP:GoodGovernance Localandcentralgovernmentsmustallocateaportionoftheirbudgetformicrocreditstobe used as an incentive to set up adult education centers and women organizations directed towardproduction.Daynurseriesforchildrenofwomenwhowilltakeinformaleducationin adult education centers must be set up. For development of these adult education centers, private sector, universities and NGOs must support government so that the cost will be reduced. The subventions given in this sense by international organizations to developing countries must be evaluated and maximum profit must be taken from these donations. In additionnumberofwomensheltersmustbeincreasedandtheirstandardsmustbeimproved. Legal sanctions for preventing violence against women and for increasing ratio of girls attendingschoolmustbeenforcedandrelatedcontrolmechanismsmustbeimproved.

THETHIRDSTEP:TemporarySpecialMeasures Number of women participating notonly tothe parliament but also to any decisionmaking mechanism must be increased. Measuring and evaluating techniques used in selection of employees must be raised to international standards in order to place appropriate people to appropriate positions so that discrimination can be prevented. Women men ratio must be targetedto50%50%inallpositionstodevelopaninclinationinsocietyandinordertoreach thistargetpositivediscriminationmustbeappliedduringatmost2electionperiods.

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UNDP (2004). Gender and Energy for Sustainable Development: A Toolkit and Source Guide,December2004,UnitedNationsNewYork.

Wenz,P.(2001). EnvironmentalEthicsToday,OxfordUniversityPress,NewYork. Gaard, G. (1993). Ecofeminism: Women, Animals, Nature, Temple University Press, Philadelphia.

Salleh, A. (1997). Ecofeminism as Politics: Nature, Marx and the Postmodern, Zed Books, London&NewYork.

Warren, K. J., and Cheney, J. (2003). Ecological Feminism and Ecosystem Ecology, Blackwell,MaldenUSA.

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