Legal Aid for Women

Access to justice as a practical and process based definition may be defined as capacities of people to use judicial institutions which shall bring solution to common judicial problems of the people. Women’s access to justice deserves a special study due to their social status. Referral to judicial authorities, access to legal information, economic concerns in action filing processes, urban transportation facilities etc., poverty in general, education, inequality in processes such as everyday life and urban life may be deemed as factors which alter the positions of women in women’s access to justice processes. Especially in civil proceedings legal aid is one of the important means of women's access to justice. In Turkey, legal aid in civil proceeding is conducted in two manners. First one is the system provided in Code of Civil Procedures and which provides to be exempted from proceeding costs. The other one is the legal aid offered by Bars. Here, the liability to pay the proceedings costs lies on the demandant, however, the attorney service offered is free.

This study is based on a field research that includes in-depth interviews with 11 women about their judicial process, interviews with Ankara Bar “Gelincik Project” and 3 NGOs (Human Rights Association, The Foundation for Women’s Solidarity, and Flying Broom) that work with women. The aim of this study is to assess the legal aid system in civil proceedings and the status of women in access to justice processes which is foreseen that it should be accessible under equal conditions and which is one of the junction points with legal equality.