Turkish women in the workforce continue to face multiple challenges, including demanding working conditions and the burden of domestic responsibilities, the Evrensel news website reported.
A woman identified as Aynur gave an interview in which she described the pressures she faced at work, the responsibilities she faced at home and her anxieties about the future.
Aysun, a mother of two, has been working at a textile factory in Gaziantep province for nearly four years, putting in 12-hour shifts, six days a week. She said she could barely find time for her children because of the long hours.
“I no longer have a day or night. No matter what time I finish, I have to get off at the bus stop and walk home, even if it’s in the middle of the night. When we say we don’t want to work 12 hours, they tell us we’re free to leave. The employers keep increasing production targets and demand that we produce even more. And when we work overtime, the extra pay is handed to us under the table [not officially through the bank].”
This was not the only problem at the factory, with Aysun saying they weren’t given enough time to eat properly. They were assigned heavy workloads that included constant lifting and were exposed to excessive dust and poor ventilation.
Moreover, they were forced to return to work only two days after the major earthquakes that hit their province on February 6, 2023 and claimed the lives of 53,725 people.
“I told them I couldn’t leave my children alone, and instead of showing compassion, they told me I could resign,” she said.
Aysun said women wanted humane working and living conditions.
Over the past week the Ministry of Family and Social Affairs has been organizing events to celebrate the “Year of the Family,” a program aimed at supporting children and promoting traditional family values.
Aynur said that instead of political rhetoric that starts with vague terms such as “family values,” women want policies that guarantee their fundamental rights and freedoms.
Women rights activists have also criticized the program, saying it reinforces traditional domestic roles rather than addressing the challenges women face at home and in the workplace.
