2007 Gruber Women's Rights Prize
Both individually and through her leadership in two organizations that she co-founded, Pinar Ilkkaracan has helped reform Turkish laws to advance gender equality and made these laws accessible to women at the grassroots level, instigated advocacy efforts to promote sexual, bodily and reproductive rights in Muslim societies, and advocated on the international level for the advancement of women’s human rights.
2007 Women's rights Prize Recipients
Laureate Profile
Pinar Ilkkaracan is a psychotherapist and researcher who, through Women for Women’s New Ways (WWHR) – an organization she founded – and the Coalition for Sexual and Bodily Rights in Muslim Countries (CSBR) – a bi-regional solidarity network she initiated – has pioneered reforms to anchor women’s equality in the legal system, and created a nationwide human rights program to enable women to exercise their rights in Turkey.
She has built a regional network to increase the knowledge, solidarity, and advocacy on bodily integrity and human rights among women and men in Muslim societies. She is also a leading advocate for women’s human rights internationally.
Women for Women’s Human Rights-New Ways (WWHR) is an organization that, through a decade of activism, advocacy, and lobbying, has contributed significantly to various legal reforms in Turkey, networking in Muslim societies, and promotion of women’s human rights at the United Nations (UN) level. Since 2005, WWHR has consultative status with the Economic & Social Council (ECOSOC) of the UN. As a leading independent women’s NGO worldwide, WWHR has set precedents including successful advocacy initiatives for women’s human rights, the provision of the most widespread human rights training program for women in Turkey, and promotion of sexual rights as human rights in Muslim societies.
WWHR has initiated and is coordinating “The Coalition for Sexual and Bodily Rights in Muslim Societies (CSBR),” the only active solidarity network in Muslim Societies that works for the promotion of sexual and reproductive health and rights as human rights. CSBR is a bi-regional network of 38 organizations from 14 countries. Founded in 2001, it has spearheaded activist work on advocacy and lobbying for sexual and bodily rights in Muslim societies. Advocating to transform and eliminate customary practices and discriminatory attitudes leading to human rights violations, CSBR has catalyzed and supported advocacy efforts on national levels and international platforms.
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Citation
The Peter and Patricia Gruber Foundation proudly presents the 2007 Women’s Rights Prize to:
Pinar Ilkkaracan and two influential organizations that she helped establish: Women for Women's Human Rights-New Ways and the Coalition for Sexual and Bodily Rights in Muslim Societies.
The Women's Rights Prize honors trailblazing women’s rights advocate Pinar Ilkkaracan for her leadership in securing legal reform and working to end violence and discrimination against women in Turkey and regionally, and for helping to create and strengthen networks and coalitions across communities and borders.
Women for Women's Human Rights has played a critical role in advancing women's civil and reproductive rights and raising awareness about gender-based violence. The Coalition for Sexual and Bodily Rights in Muslim Societies has helped shatter myths about customs and religious practices and has united women's rights advocates from 14 countries in a sustained effort to protect women and girls.
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