Our Objective

WOMEN’S RIGHTS ASSOCIATION AGAINST DISCRIMINATION (AKDER)

AKDER Women’s Rights Association Against Discrimination (AKDER, is a human rights association established on February 15, 1999, by students whose education rights are taken away and discriminated against because of their attire and by various professional women whose right to work rights is denied.

AKDER as a civilian organization, which is independent from any political party and groups, carries on its struggle for human rights through increasing volunteers at all platforms in Turkey and the world.

GOALS AKDER’s primary goals are supporting to improve especially women’s generally human rights, fighting for to end all sort of discrimination, educating its members on women’s rights, improving the degree of consciousness, solidarity and experience sharing among its members to provide legal, material and moral help to individuals whose rights are violated.

AKDER focuses on putting an end to every kind of discrimination taken place in Turkey; also aims to consolidate social consciousness concerning human rights violations, to create social conscience about discrimination and to fight against every sort of interferences and obstruction in exercising women’s personal rights like right to education, work and making career.

AKDER believes that exercising fundamental rights freely is essential for individuals to have honorable lives. The foremost human rights violations are the deprivation of women’s rights to education and work whose wearing headscarf. The ongoing ban on headscarf for years is the most serious and common discrimination form has been seen. AKDER gives the priority to abolishment of arbitrary and illegitimate ban on headscarf which oppresses hundred thousands of individuals with their family through binding women’s natural rights to exercise to removal of headscarf.

MISSION According to the AKDER human rights are transferable, inviolable and inalienable that people are entitled by birth. Since those are not ascribed, they cannot be taken away. Those are guaranteed by constitution and international treaties.

AKDER, aims to help women to exercise their entire rights as an individual, to live their life without comprising from their believes, to decide whether to cover their head, and to take their place at all levels of social life through getting education as they wish.

AKDER’s mission is to help women to exercise their right to education and work, to exist in social, economic and cultural realms without being discriminated against because of their attire.

AKDER believes in promoting justice anywhere and anytime. Therefore, we give special importance legal struggle against the ban on headscarf that does not have legal justification and obstruct arbitrarily individual’s right to exercise their fundamental rights.

AKDER works towards enhancing social consciousness and sensitivity against every sort of discrimination. We see attack to personal rights like violence, sexual violence, and degradation as violation of rights and discrimination.

ACTIVITIES AKDER; informs public through participating in meeting, and making press hearings in order to realize its goals as its charter regulates. We provide to women discriminated against legal assistance through guiding them to attorneys who are member of the foundation. We publicize and inform administrative offices through preparing reports that cover wide range of women’s problems. We also give educational advising to student who wants to study abroad. We organize seminars related to education, general awareness, and health issues. When activities require cooperation with other civil society groups, we do so. Some of AKDER’s activities are as follows:

- To provide education counseling in studying abroad for student who couldn’t complete their education or training. We match students and donors who wants to support students, we act as intermediary in order to help them to finish their education.

- To keep social awareness alive and alert against arbitrary violations of rights through protest march and demonstration within the frame of “Press Conferences and Meetings and Demonstration Law”.
- To provide legal assistance to its members and individual whose work and education rights are denied. There are hundreds of individual among AKDER’s members who applied to European Court of Human Rights because of mistreatment against their personality, after exhausted all possible internal legal solution

- To inform public, civil and administrative

institutions/organizations through legal briefings about women’s rights. “Assessment of the Ban on Headscarf According to Public Survey and Human Rights Foundations’ Reports”, “Debates over Public Space and the Question of the Ban on Headscarf in Turkey”, “Human Rights Watch Report and Leyla Sahin/ Turkish Verdict”, and “No Limit over Injustice Concerning Headscarf” are a few to name that has been send to Turkish and International Organizations.

- To send those reports to various organization such as the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, Committee for European Union Human Rights, EU Education Committee, EU Turkey Office. We translate various documents to foreign languages about ongoing human rights violations and bring to the attention of Turkish and International Human Rights Organizations.

- To communicate with organization like Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, Helsinki Human Rights Federation, American Muslim Council, Orient Institute, we aim to make known the realities concerning the scope discrimination.

- To participate in national and international meetings in order to realize its goals which has been designated by its charter. We meet national and international civil society organizations and press.
- To prepare visual performances, DVD, CD, VCD, cine-visions and multi-visions, slide shows, photograph exhibitions at various cities. “Başüstüne” (By/with my head) and “No Limit over Injustice Concerning Headscarf” are the books published by AKDER.

- To organize seminars about women, politics, religion, health and European Union in order to improve general awareness among its members and volunteers.

- To publish a quarterly bulletin to inform public and its members about ongoing human rights violations and to cultivate solidarity among its members.

WHAT’D YOU DO FOR AKDER/ WHAT’D AKDER DO FOR YOU?
AKDER is conscious about its responsibility as a human rights foundation. Therefore, since the beginning, we have accomplished significant progress with passion and commitment, even though limited means and tools, insufficient funds, amateur staff. However, in order to keep going on its activities with gaining momentum, it is only possible through your support.

You could do alternative work or could contribute to AKDER’s progress. You could to take part in existing projects or start a new one in which suit to association goals, provide financial support through you membership fees by becoming member. Moreover, you could be donor to students who have not lost their dedication to study despite every sort of hindrance.

We will carry on our tasks like to publicize human rights violation like being deprived of fundamental rights such as education, work, have access to information; to strive for abolishment of ongoing discrimination and to assist disadvantaged with your support.
WE WOULD LIKE YOU TO KNOW THAT; your presence will only empower us to give better future next generations. In sum, this endeavor belongs to anyone believing that they deserve an honorable life.

31/08/2005
AKDER Women’s’ Rights Association Against Discrimination
President Dr. Refia KIZILHAN