IKV EU Information Centre, in cooperation with KAGİDER, organised a conference entitled “Place of Women in the Business World” at the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women on 25 November 2016. In the meeting which was attended by a large number of academicians, students and representatives of women’s rights associations, the opening remarks were realised by KAGİDER Board of Directors Member Servisimin Cömert Birced and IKV EU Information Centre Coordinator M. Gökhan Kilit.

In the conference and education part of the meeting, Sabancı University Independent Women Directors Project Manager Sevda Alkan realised a presentation entitled “Workplace Policies Towards Women Faced with Domestic Violence” where she pinpointed the hardships and violence faced by women in the workplace at the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.

The second presentation entitled “Place of the EU Perspective in Woman’s Professional Life” was realised by Yıldız Technical University lecturer Dr. Ece Paralı Öztan. In her presentation, she revealed some striking statistics such as the fact that 35% of women working in employment outside of agriculture in Turkey have a university degree whereas 15% of men in the same category have a university degree. Indicating that the part time work system was a positive measure, Öztan underscored the need to plan men and women’s participation in the workforce. Furthermore, she also noted that the phrase that “women do not prefer this department” expressed by companies constitute a trap and added that only 7% of a population of 27 million of women who are able to work are actually working.