Constitutional Courthadrecently ruled,byadecision offiveofitsninemembers, thattheprovision ofarticle 438ofthePenalCoderegarding reduction ofthe penalty forraping aprostitute wasconstitutional. Thatdecision hadprovoked an energetic reaction bymenandwomeninallspheres, especially inthebigcities. Therehadbeenpublicdemonstrations andthepressandpolitical parties hadvoiced theirdisapproval ofthedecision. 33.Inconnection witharticle 7,shesaidthat,although Turkish womenhadthe righttovoteandtobeelected, theystilldidnotplaytheroletheydeserved in political life.TherewereonlysixwomenintheParliament andonlyonewoman Minister. Thewomen's associations hadnotyethadgreatsuccess intheareaof politics. 34.Shecitedsomefigures ontheparticipation ofwomeninsomeareas. Inthe legalsector, 21.20percentofthelawyers and12.06percentofthejudges and prosecutors werewomen. Inthehealthsphere, 31.61percentofthephysicians and 40.22percentofthepharmacists werewomen. Intheuniversities, awoman occupied thepostofVice-President oftheHigherEducation Council established in 1981,twowomenhadbeenpresidents ofuniversities andatpresent, outofatotal of186deansoffaculties in29universities, 18werewomen. Ofthe11members of /...ICEDAW/C/SR.165 English Page7 (Ms.Dogramaci, Turkey) theExecutive Committee ofAnkaraUniversity, sixwerewomen. Furthermore, according torecentstatistics, 34percentoftheteaching staffinuniversities werewomen. 35.Withrespect toarticle 8,itwastobenotedthatof702careerofficers in theMinistry ofForeign Affairs, 81werewomen, whichamounted to11.54percent. Amongthemwere1DeputyUnder-Secretary withambassadorial rank,2Deputy Directors-General, 6HeadsofDepartment, 1Consul-General and10DeputyChiefsof Mission. Turkish womenalsoplayed anactiveroleintherepresentation ofTurkey ininternational organizations andconferences. 36.Inconnection witharticle 9,shesaidthattherewasnodistinction between themotherorfatherwithrespect tothecitizenship ofthechild. 37.Inconnection witharticle 10,shepointed outthatfamilyplanning activities hadbegunin1965andwereregulated byLawNo.2827of1983. Thatlawallowed abortion uptothetenthweekofpregnancy andsterilization undergovernment regulation. Although theconsent ofthehusband wasrequired foreitherprocedure, theintentofthelawwastopermitthewomantodecide onthenumberofchildren shewouldhave. Familyplanning services wereprovided mainly bytheMinistry of Health andSocialWelfare, withwhichuniversities, radioandtelevision, social security organizations andnon-governmental organizations co-operated. The Ministry devoted 2.7percentofitsbudgettofamilyplanning. Therewere128 familyplanning centres inthecountry, withastaffof1,750persons, ofwhom353 werephysicians. In1987services hadbeenprovided to24.71percentofwomenin thereproductive agegroup.Itwashopedthattheaverage birthratewould decrease to2.85percentintheperiod 1990-1995. 38.InTurkey, primary education wascompulsory forbothboysandgirls. Thelaw provided penalties forparents whodidnotsendtheirchildren toprimary school, although inpractice thelawwasnotstrictly implemented, especially insomerural areas. 39.Turkey hadaco-educational system, exceptinthecaseofmilitary academies andvocational andtechnical schools forgirls. Theincrease inthenumberof girlsinvocational andtechnical schools wasduepartlytotradition andpartlyto economic reasons. Allgraduates ofhighschools, vocational schools andother equivalent schools wereentitled totaketheuniversities' entrance examination. Counselling andcareerorientation services wereprovided. 40.Onthequestion regarding theemployment ofgraduates, particularly inthe fieldofmasscommunications, thesituation wasthatthepercentage ofwomen working inthatareawasincreasing daily,withexcellent results. Inaddition, manycompanies workedhand-in-hand withuniversities withaviewtoengaging senior students aftergraduation. Therewasalsoasubstantial demandforwomeninthe fieldoftheperforming arts. I •..CEDAW/C/SR.165 English Page8 (MS.Dogramaci, Turkey) 41.Campaigns hadbeenpromoted throughout theentirecountry inordertoimprove theliteracy ratesofwomen. Suchcampaigns weresupported byradioandtelevision programmes andspecial courses inschools. Therelatively highliteracy rateamong mencompared withwomenresulted fromthehigherschooling rateofmenandthefact thatilliterate menlearned toreadandwriteduringtheircompulsory military 'iervice. 42.Whilesex commencement. fromtextbookseducation hadnotyetbegun,thereweremovements forits Hitherto littleeffort hadbeenmadetoeliminate sexualstereotypes
**Analysis**
The text appears to be a report or statement on the status of women in Turkey, covering various aspects such as education, employment, family planning, and citizenship. The tone is informative, providing statistics and data on the participation of women in different fields. The text does not focus on economic development, natural resources, or international trade, but rather on social and human rights issues.

**Category**
Education, Health, Employment, Human rights