The Mediterranean Women Mediators Network – Turkey Antenna published their research on Women’s Cooperatives in Turkey “Women Cooperatives for Social and Economic Empowerment”, and it is now available online.
The report presents the results of a study on women’s cooperatives conducted in different regions of Turkey, assessing the current state of play and focusing on the relationship between women’s cooperatives and local governments, the public sector and civil society. The report highlights the contribution of these cooperatives to women’s empowerment, solidarity, gender equality and social peace.
Based on the interviews and observations made, the researchers concluded that women’s cooperatives are structures that provide goods and services to the community, generate a small income for their members, and play a role in preventing women’s poverty through the “more work, more profit” formula. The main motivation behind the establishment of women’s cooperatives is to turn the labor of women who produce at home with their own limited means into financial gain. The research reveals that the women’s cooperatives interviewed were mostly established by women without any capital, in an effort to create jobs for themselves.
Women’s cooperatives not only provide economic freedom and employment for women, but also function as social networks and spaces for solidarity.
Read the report by the Turkey Antenna here !
The press release is available here.
