For All Women and Girls: Prof. Dr. Ayşe Ayata on Political Representation and Gender Equality
#ForAllWomenandGirls is a rallying call for action on the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. Prof. Dr. Ayşe Ayata from Türkiye, a scholar and activist, reflects on the progress and ongoing challenges in women's political participation and gender equality.
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Prof. Ayşe Ayata, a pioneering scholar and activist, has spent decades advocating for women's political participation, co-founding KA.DER to ensure equal representation in decision-making. Photo: UN Women/Ali Saltan
Breaking Barriers for Women in Politics
Prof. Ayşe Ayata, a longtime professor at Middle East Technical University’s Department of Political Science and Public Administration and the Women’s Studies program, has dedicated her career to researching and advocating for women's rights. She has worked extensively on women’s political participation, authoring numerous publications on the subject. Beyond academia, Ayata has been a passionate activist, co-founding the Association for Support of Women Candidates (KA.DER), ensuring the effective, and equal representation of women in all decision-making mechanisms and politics.
Reflecting on the early days of her activism, Ayata recalls the significant preparations leading up to the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995. She was invited by then-Minister of State for Women, to contribute to Türkiye’s official delegation, participating in national and international preparatory meetings.
Experiencing the Conference in Beijing
Attending the Conference in Beijing was a defining moment for Ayata. She recalls the intensity of the negotiations, where every word in the final declaration was debated and revised to ensure consensus. “It was not just a feminist gathering—it was a diplomatic negotiation, where every term was carefully chosen to reflect global commitments,” she explains. Despite the rigid structure, the conference served as a platform to elevate women’s rights on the global stage.
“We were not just observers; we were active participants shaping the commitments that would influence national policies for years to come.”
Prof. Dr. Ayşe Ayata
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Advancing Women’s Representation in Decision-Making
As a scholar and advocate, Ayata emphasizes that increasing women’s participation in decision-making processes remains a critical issue. “In 1995, the conversation around quotas for women in politics was just beginning in Türkiye. Today, we have seen progress, with women’s representation in parliament increasing from around 5% to 20%. However, the struggle is far from over,” she notes.
Ayata underscores the importance of political parties actively promoting women candidates and implementing structural mechanisms to ensure gender balance. “It is no longer acceptable for political parties to ignore women’s presence in politics. However, despite some gains, women are still often relegated to secondary roles rather than leading decision-making processes. While political parties now acknowledge the necessity of including women, their roles are often confined to addressing women-specific issues rather than broader governance matters. Women in politics still face structural disadvantages, and although the world has seen female prime ministers and party leaders, they often encounter additional challenges and biases due to their gender.”
The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action: Still Relevant Today
Looking back at the impact of the Beijing Platform for Action, Ayata sees its principles as more relevant than ever. “The Beijing conference was not just about recognizing women’s rights—it was about integrating gender equality into the global political agenda. Many of the commitments made in 1995, including eliminating discrimination and increasing educational opportunities for girls, have seen significant progress, but challenges remain,” she explains.
She also highlights that while many governments pledged to support gender equality policies, there has been a global trend of pushback against women’s rights. “Ensuring that commitments made under the Beijing Platform for Action are fully realized requires persistent advocacy and accountability,” she asserts.
