EGALITARIAN JURISPRUDENCE AND GENDERED DYNAMICS: AN INQUIRY INTO THE POVERTY ALIMONY SYSTEM IN TURKEY

Date

2024-2

Author

Gençaslan, Sine

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This thesis examines the gender dynamics behind the implementation of seemingly gender neutral and egalitarian laws in the Turkish judicial system with respect to the functioning and the consequences of the poverty alimony system for women. Using qualitative research methodology, the Turkish case study explores a specific domain of women's access to justice problematized in terms of the androcentric influences on the judge’s discretion overshadowing gender equity in the law enforcement process. Adopting a gender perspective and a dynamic approach to law, the study analyzes how and why the judge’s discretion in alimony decisions and its implementation reflect and embody dominant gender norms thereby disadvantaging women who are likely to remain economically vulnerable following divorce. The thesis research follows feminist research concerns and approach to unravel the gendered nature of the judicial process by centering on women's experiences of divorce and the alimony decisions. The research analyses a range of primary and secondary sources, including decisions of the Court of Appeals and the Constitutional Court in Turkey, media coverage of the alimony debates, published reports, face -to -face and online interviews with lawyers. The findings of the thesis point to a tension between the theoretical principles of equality in legal systems and the practice of law in patriarchal settings.

Subject Keywords

poverty alimony, civil law, divorced women, discretion of the judge, equity

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11511/108701

Collections

Graduate School of Social Sciences, Thesis