ABSTRACT
Two types of restrictions operate to affect women’s status in Muslim societies. The first includes the legal and religious restrictions and inequalities mentioned in the Quran, Hadith, Sunna and Sharia law codes, and the second is that imposed by the practice of purdah or seclusion. Turkish women were granted political rights much earlier than women in many European countries. They were enfranchised for municipal elections in 1930 and four years later were given the right to participate in national elections. Although Turkey embarked some decades ago on a programme of accelerated industrialisation, it still retains some of its basic agrarian aspects, indeed the major socio-economic characteristic is one of economic dualism. The reciprocal relationship between education and employment, however, becomes most evident when the distribution of women according to their educational level and labour force participation is examined. Women in the executive and the judiciary are really freed in the public domain from all sex-defined stereotypes.
