Women seek legal amendment for freedom to use maiden name
by Anadolu Agency
ANKARAAug 18, 2015 - 12:00 am GMT+3
by Anadolu Agency
Aug 18, 2015 12:00 am
In a bid for equal status, women's nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in Turkey are lobbying authorities to change the existing laws so that women can still use their maiden names when they are married.
Under existing laws, women are not allowed to exclusively use their maiden names on official documents if they are married. Professor Suna Başak, who chairs Anka Women's Research Center, an NGO, said the use of a maiden name is a hot topic in women's pursuit of equal rights with men, especially after several female plaintiffs won lawsuits they filed to use their maiden names freely. "It is about equality and it is about the fact that only women face legal problems regarding the change in last names," she said. Although the constitution does not allow women to use their maiden names without their husbands' last names, the principle of compatibility with international conventions on the issue enable women to do so, but only if they file a lawsuit. "What needs to be done is an egalitarian legal regulation that will enable married couples to choose whatever last name they prefer. This will replace the outside pressure on last names with the free will of individuals. Certainly, most women may prefer keeping the last name of their husbands but still, they should be given an option," she said. Başak downplayed criticism that freedom to choose a last name would lead to complications, and noted that other countries, including Germany, France and Austria, already had laws enabling women to keep their maiden name and the practice does not cause problems.
Canan Güllü, head of the Federation of Turkish Women's Associations (TKDF), stressed that women should be allowed to use their maiden name instead of the last name they adopted after marriage, pointing to Article 17 of the constitution, which guarantees the personal inviolability, material and spiritual entity of the individual. "Women are forced to abandon their names they were known by and becomes dependent on the last name of their husband or have to add their husband's' last name to their maiden name," she complained. "We live in a country of patriarchal society, and obviously some people would oppose the idea that women should not be forced to take up the last name of their husbands. But the state should treat every citizen equally. We immediately need legal amendments to that extent, as forcing women to use their husbands' last names contradicts the principles of equality the international agreements Turkey is party to outline," she said.
On bureaucratic challenges, such as problems stemming from using a separate last name in official documents, Güllü said Turkey already has a system that issues a unique ID number to each citizen that would be sufficient to prevent any complications.
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