6 March 2019, Istanbul – The company of Vodafone Türkiye that newly joined the project of ‘’Business Against Domestic Violence (BADV)’’ held a meeting to raise awareness among its employees. BADV is a project that is supported by the United Nations Population Fund and Sabancı Foundation and implemented by the Corporate Governance Forum of Sabancı University in cooperation with TÜSİAD, Turkish Industry and Business Association.  

The project of Business Against Domestic Violence aims at paving the way for the creation of support mechanisms against domestic violence victims at work places, in an effort to make the violence against women more apparent. The project defines the measures and support mechanisms, which the business community can take and create against domestic violence on the basis of their administrative and organisational skills.  

In the awareness raising meeting that was organised by Vodafone Turkey, the new member of the group of companies involved in the project of Business against Domestic Violence with the aim to popularise the project in the company and create an environment allowing the embracement of the project by all the employees, the personnel has been informed about the implementation process of the project within the company.  Bülent Bayram, Assistant Chief Executive Officer of Vodafone Turkey, made a speech and a presentation in the opening of the event. He said: ‘’A survey performed by the Foundation of Vodafone Group in 9 countries has revealed that one in three employees is subjected to violence, and that domestic violence negatively impacts women employees on their career path. In Vodafone we lay great emphasis that our employees lead a life in safety and be duly supported, be it in or outside the company; in this sense, we pride ourselves in being the first ever company that has issued a Domestic Violence Procedure in all the countries we are operating in.’’  

Elif Elçi Çarıkçı, Programme and Partnerships Officer at the United Nations Population Fund, Edis Görgülü, United Nations Population Fund Spokesperson and Sevda Alkan, Manager of the Project of Business Against Domestic Violence of Sabancı University, who also participated in the awareness-raising event organised for the occasion of 8 March International Women’s Day, informed the participants about the project.  

In her speech Elif Elçi Çarıkçı, Programme and Partnerships Officer at the United Nations Population Fund, said: ‘’A stance sensitive to violence adopted particularly by the public sector together with the private sector would be a leading social impulse to prevent and eliminate all kinds of violence towards women. We observe with satisfaction that private companies that previously tended to do ‘’charity work’’ by mere financial contributions prior to similar projects now adopt approaches intended to inspire and motivate society to strive towards a positive transformation.’’  

On the other hand, Sevda Alkan, Manager of the Project of Business Against Domestic Violence of Sabancı University, who also spoke in the event, said: ‘’The main reason why women who are exposed to domestic violence leave their job lies in the fact that they cannot get support with respect to the violence they are subjected to at home. Several cases reported in studies confirm that a high proportion of women employees with a higher education and higher income do get exposed to violence; it is a fact that 75% of white-collar women employees are exposed to violence in some way or other’’.  

Edis Görgülü, United Nations Population Fund Spokesperson, also made a speech in the event, contributing to raising awareness on the issue. Expressing his sensitivity on the phenomenon of violence, Görgülü said: ‘’It was during my university years and thanks to one of my teachers that I first came in touch with the feminist perspective. Then I took a more critical stance towards gender inequality and internalised the concept into my life’’. Making mention of violence, he said:  ‘’Being aware whether one is exposed to violence is of great importance. It would be mistake to define a suffocating, repressive and extremely oppressive relationship simply by ‘he loves me’. You may be a victim of flirting violence.’’ He also shared his views on the activities of business community to combat domestic violence: ‘’I have observed that if a conflict arises with a male manager at a work place, the confrontation is carried out based on the management style; when, however, a woman manager is involved in a conflict, people tend to address the dispute rather based on the aspects of that manager as a woman.’’ and he added: ‘’You can only love someone when that person is equal to you. How can you love somebody who you think is inferior to you? I believe that equality is much healthier in relationships.’’ At the end of his speech, calling on the participating young people, he said: “When you have difficulties in combating violence alone, seek the help of a friend. Supported by friends, you can create a support mechanism to lend a hand to those exposed to violence’’.  tamamladı.  

UNFPA, United Nations Population Fund

The UNFPA, United Nations Population Fund was established in 1969 and as the biggest aid source with international funding in the area of population operating around the world. UNFPA operates in more than 150 countries for creating policies and strategies that support sustainable development. Having started its activities on a project basis, UNFPA, United Nations Population Fund has been working on reproductive health, encouraging social gender equality, collecting, using and distributing data about development and humanitarian aid in Turkey since 1971. Within this framework, the first Country Program lasted from 1988 to 1992 and now the Sixth Country Program (2016-2020) is being executed.

UNFPA, United Nations Population Fund works to deliver a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe and every young person's potential is fulfilled. To this end, UNFPA focuses especially 5 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs); 

SDG 3: Good health and well-being, 

SDG 5: Gender Equality

SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities

SDG 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions

SDG 17: Partnerships for Goals

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