Legal Education for Women—A Comparison of Practice in China and Turkey

Advances in Applied Sociology

2011. Vol.1, No.1, 64-69

Legal Education for Women—A Comparison of Practice in

China and Turkey

Onur Sabri Durak1,2, Yen-Chiang Chang3, Nannan Wang4, Yue Zhao5

1Istanbul Technical University Maritime Faculty, Istanbul, Turkey;

2Shanghai Maritime University, Shanghai, China;

3School of Law, Shandong University, Jinan, China;

4School of Management, Shandong University, Jinan, China;

5School of Law, Shandong University, Jinan, China.

Email: ycchang@sdu.edu.cn, onursabri@hotmail.com

Received November 10th, 2011; revised December 12th, 2011; accepted December 22nd, 2011.

The concept of human rights has been altering and expanding since the 20th century. The current development

as regards human rights is that it covers the “right of education”. Since steps are being taken to improve

women’s fundamental rights, the “right of education”, is one of the leading matters to be considered in order to

avoid any kind of discrimination against women in the modern world. Unfortunately, as opposed to the theoreti-

cal equality of women with men in legal texts, the broader sense of women’s rights has been altering and ex-

panding more slowly than in legal texts and the reality differs from the theoretical ideal. This is proven by the

fact that there are 960 million adult illiterate all over the world, and among which 2/3 are female. In 2004, there

are 121 million children out of school around the world and among which 65 million are girls. The purpose of

this article is to indicate and evaluate the legal basis of education in general and legal education in universities

and institutions in China and in Turkey, with special attention being paid to Taiwan region, from a historical and

comparative perspective. Women, as lawmakers and a part of law enforcement, together with their rights, in par-

ticular, the “right of education” and briefly, legal education for women, are all discussed. International Cove-

nants and national legislation which provide fundamental rights on education for women are addressed and ob-

stacles to women’s legal education are also addressed .

Keywords: Right of Educa t i on, Legal Education, Women’s Rights

Introduction

The right to an education has been designated as a funda-

mental right under international human rights documents. His-

torically, human rights solely referred to the right to life, liberty

and not being subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or de-

grading treatment. Since the Second World War, the concept of

human rights has altered and expanded. “The right of educa-

tion” has now become a fundamental right in the context of

hu man rights. Designation of “the right of education” under inter-

national human rights documents has particular two aims:

 To avoid illiteracy;

 To promote education for everyone, without any discrimina-

tion and to achieve elementary education for everyone.

In this context, the United Nations (UN) promulgated inter-

national human rights documents covering, “the right of educa-

tion” and promotes education for everyone. One of the signify-

cant issues which the international human rights documents touch

upon is the “education o f wome n” and “women’s educati on ri ght”.

At the present, there are 960 million adult illiterate all over the

world, and among which 2/3 are female. In 2004, there are 121

million children out of school around the world and among

which 65 million are girls (Huang, 2006). With regard to these

considerations, the UN has promulgated conventions and while

some of these conventions solely related to women’s rights,

some other rights related to women’s rights are prescribed in

general terms under the international human rights documents,

such as:

 The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), Arti-

cle 11 and Article 262;

1UDHR Article 1: “All human being s are born free and equal in dignity an d

rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act to-

wards one another in a sp irit of brotherhood”.

2UDHR Article 26: “1) everyon e has the ri ght to education. Ed ucation sh all

be free, at l east in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary edu-

cation shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made

generall y availab le and high er edu cation s hall b e equal ly access ibl e to all on

the basis of me rit; 2) education shall be dire cted to the full deve lopment of the

human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and

fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friend-

ship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall further the acti-

vities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace; 3) parents have a

prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children”.

3On 17th October 1999, China notified the Director-General of UNESCOthat

the Convention will continue to apply to the Macao Special Administrative

Region of the People’s Republic of China, with effect from 20thDecember

1999; Turke y has not yet sig ned the Convention.

 Convention against Discrimination in Education (CDE)3,

Article 14 and consecutive articles therein;

 International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural

4CDE Article 1: “1. For the purpose of this Convention, the term “discri-

mination” includes any distinction, exclusion, limitation or preference which,

being based on race, colo r, sex, language, r eligion, po litical or other opinion,

national or social origin, economic condition or birth, has the purpose or effect

of nullifying or impairing equality of treatment in education and in particula

1) of d eprivi ng any pers on or group of p erson s of access t o edu catio n of any

type or at any level; 2) of limiting any person or group of persons to educa-

tion of an inferior standard; 3) subject to the provisions of Article 2 of this

Convention, of establishing or maintaining separate educational systems o

institutions for persons or groups of persons; or 4) of inflicting on any per-

son or group of persons conditions which are incom

atible with the dignity

of man”.

O. S. DURAK ET AL. 65

Rights (CESCR)5, Article 136;

 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimina-

tion against Women (CEDAW)7, Article 18, Article 39 and

Article 1010.

Afore cited international human rights documents generally

aim to achieve equal rights for everyone around the world, wit h-

out any discrimination and specifically aim to achieve funda-

mental education for all people. Parties to those conventions

undertake the responsibility of establishing and maintaining ap-

propriate educational systems for every citizen in their countries.

For this study, we particularly focus on the legal basis of

education in mainland China, Taiwan region and Turkey. The

main reason for selecting China and Turkey as the object of

comparison is that both States share the similar legal system,

same legal problems regarding women’s legal education might

occur within both States. On the other hand, China has experi-

enced rapid growth in terms of economic and legal develop-

ment. Turkey, as a developing country, has a lot in common in

comparison with China. It is, therefore, noteworthy to compare

the issues of women’s legal education based on similar eco-

nomic and legal background. The current development in Tai-

wan region, however, will provide a broad picture as to how

China and Turkey will look like in the future. We then try to

address legal education and the place of women in legal educa-

tion, in mainland China, Taiwan region and Turkey. While we

try to achieve a comparative study, we acknowledge some dif-

ficulties experienced during the research and also some differ-

ences between the subjected States and Special Administration

Region. Such difficulties as indicated above include:

 Membership status of States to international human rights

documents is different. In this respect, national legislation is

also different for the legal basis of education and right to

education;

 Population differences between subject matter States11 or

region;

 Cultural, social and economic background12;

 Differences between educational systems, university entrance

systems and in particular, differences in admission to the

legal system after higher education13;

 Available statistics on education are significantly dated and

inadequate for both States and the Special Administration

Region. Secondly, the statistics do not provide sufficient

information on legal education and beside this, existing sta-

tistics are not available for comparison purposes.

Beside the differences specific to the subject matter among

States and Special Administration Region, there are several ge-

neral similarities, such as:

5China signed the Covenant on 27th October 1997 and ratified on 27th

March 2001; Turkey signed the Covenant on 15th August 2000 and ratified

on 23rd September 2003.

6ICESCR Article 13: “1) The States Parties to the present Covenant reco-

gnize th e right of everyo ne to educati on. They agree th at education s hall be

directed to the full development of the human personality and the sense o

its dignity, and shall strengthen the respect for human rights and funda-

mental freedoms. Th ey further agree that educati on shall enable al l persons

to participate effectively in a free society, promote understanding, tolerance

and friendship among all nations and all racial, ethnic or religious groups,

and further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace.

2) The States Parties to the present Covenant recognize that, with a view to

achieving the full realization of this right: a) primary education shall be

compulsory and available free to all; b) secondary education in its different

forms, including technical and vocational secondary education, shall be

made generally available and accessible to all by every appropriate means,

and in particular by the progressive introduction of free education; c) highe

education shall be made equally accessible to all, on th e basis of capacity , by

every appr opr iat e means, and in p articu lar b y th e prog r essive i nt rodu cti on o

free education; d) fundamental education shall be encouraged or intensified

as far as po ssible for thos e persons who have no t received or comp leted the

whole period of their primary education; e) the development of a system o

schools at all levels shall be actively pursued, an adequate fellowship system

shall be established, and the material conditions of teaching staff shall be

continuously improved. 3) The States Parties to the present Covenant under-

take to have respect for the liberty of parents and, when applicable, legal

guardians to choose for their children schools, other than those established

by the public authorities, which conform to such minimum educational standards

as may be laid d o wn or ap pr oved by the Stat e and to ensu re t h e r el i g ious and

moral education of their children in conformity with their own convictions.

4) No part of this article shall be construed so as to interfere with the liberty

of individuals and bodies to establish and direct educational institutions,

subject always to the observance of the principles set forth in paragraph I o

this article and to the requirement that the education given in such institutions

shall conform to such minimum standards as may be laid down by the State”.

7China signed the Convention on 17th July 1980 and ratified it on 4th No-

vember 1 980; Turkey accessed the Convention on 20th De cember 1985.

8CEDAW Article 1: “For the purposes of the present Convention, the term

‘discrimination against women’ shall mean any distinction, exclusion or

restriction made on the basis of sex which has the effect or purpose of im-

pairing or nullifying the recognition, enjoyment or exercise by women, irre-

spective of their marital status, on a basis of equality of men and women, o

human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social,

cultural, civil or any other field”.

9CEDAW Article 3: “States Parties shall take in all fields, in particular in the

political, social, economic and cultural fields, all appropriate measures, in-

cluding legislation, to ensure the full development and advancement of women

for the p urpose of guaranteeing them th e exercise and enj oyment of human

rights and fundamenta l fr eedoms on a basis of eq u ality with men”.

 The significant role of both States and region in education

policy and governance;

 The significant percentage of State schools, compared to

private schools and institutions;

 Problems existing, particularly for elementary school and

for further steps of education.

10CEDAW Article 10: “States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to

eliminate discrimination against women in order to ensure to them equal

rights with men in the field of education and in particular to ensure, on

basis of equality of men and women: 1) the same conditions for career and

vocational guidance, for access to studies and for the achievement of diplomas

in educational establishments of all categories in rural as well as in urban areas;

this equality shall be ensured in pre-school, general, technical, professional

and higher technical education, as well as in all types of vocational training;

2) access to the same curricula, the same examinations, teaching staff with

qualifications of the same standard and school premises and equipment of the

same quality; 3) the elimination of any stereotyped concept of the roles of men

and women at all levels and in all forms of education by encouraging coe-

ducation and other types of education which will help to achieve this aim

and, in particular, by the revision of textbooks and school programmes and

the adaptation of teaching methods; 4) the same opportunities to benefit fro

scholarships and other study grants; 5) the same opportunities for access to

programmes of continuing education, including adult and functional literacy

programmes, particulary th ose ai med at red u cing , at t he ear lies t po ssib le ti me

any gap in education existing between men and women; 6) the reduction o

female student drop-out rates and the organization of programmes for girls

and women who have left school prematurely; 7) the same Opportunities to

participate actively in sports and physical education; 8) access to specific

educational information to help to ensure the health and well-being of fami-

lies, including information and advice on family pla nn i ng ”.

11Population of PRC, 1.345.751.000; Population of Taiwan region, 23.046.177;

Population of Turkey, 71.517.100. Population differences and populatio

dynamics between those States and Special Administration Re gion do not allow

the making of comparative analysis on population and conclude a research

based on this.

12Both States and Special Administration are affected by different history,

cultural background, religion, beliefs, political history and recent status. Fur-

thermore, the economic status of China, Taiwan and Turkey exhibit signifi-

cant differences.

13Whereas in Turkey, it is compulsory to obtain a Bachelor’s degree in la

to apply for the Bar Associations, in China, to apply for legal evaluation ex a m

having a ba chelor degree is enough.

O. S. DURAK ET AL.

In addition, there are some similarities existing in relation to

legal education, examples being:

 Bot h St ates ar e foll owers of a “Continental Legal System”;

 Neither State has a completely genuine and unique legal

system;

 Both States operate under the effects of international le-

gislative documents;

 Both States aim to achieve a unified legal system.

Taking into account of all these considerations, it should be

noted that although there are many difficulties and differences

which may inhibit the conducting of a comprehensive and com-

parative study among those States, these difficulties and differ-

ences do not preclude briefly introducing the legal basis of

education, right to education and legal education, for each State.

Secondly, even though statistics are somewhat limited, such

statistics as do exist provide the basis of an introduction to the

current status of legal education in each State. The fundamental

issue to be considered is that education of women is far more

significant to the development of women than other rights. And

having female legal professions indicates a fact to protect the

rights of women in the rule of law society, in particular the

equal rights.

People’s Republic of China

Mainland China

An Overview of the Education System in Mainland China

At present, the majority of females in mainland China re-

ceived at least primary school or junior high school education.

Only 14% of females are considered as being illiterate and most

of these are over 60 years of age. In addition, only small pro-

portion of females received senior high school or college edu-

cation, their numbers representing some 17%. It is, therefore,

fair to say that the majority of females receiving education in

mainland China are only educated at primary and secondary

school levels.

Observing this situation from the viewpoint of historical de-

velopment, between 1931-1945, there were only approximately

780 million females who received primary school education,

only 0.46% of females received higher education14 and in ex-

cess of 90% of females were illiterate during that period of time.

Due to the policy of promoting, “common primary and sec-

ondary education”, after 1949, the proportion of illiteracy was

gradually reduced. In the 1980s, the policy of “nine-year com-

pulsory education” was introduced and implemented, through-

out mainland China. As a result, most of the younger genera-

tions received at least a junior high school education.

Since the rapid development of the higher education system

in the 1990s, females have had more opportunity to receive

higher education. For example, 23.6% of females received highe r

education in the 1980s and the situation improved to 35.4% in

1995 and further improved to 45.7%, in 2004. It was also ob-

served that, in 2004, 44.2% of Masters’ students in mainland

China were female and they represented 31.4% of Ph. D students.

The aforesaid situation was a great improvement in comparison

to the situation in 1995 (Gao, 2004).

The Compulsory Education Act was implemented in 1986

and it provided reasonable legal protection for young children

(both males and females) to receive at least “nine-year” free

education. This policy also helped to partially ease the financial

pressure on some families, in particular, those in the country-

side. The aforesaid was deemed to be the “double legal protect-

tion” which had secured the situation whereby young girls would

receive an education. The “Nine-year compulsory education”

policy has been implemented throughout most of mainland China

and almost all young girls will have the opportunity to receive

primary school education. It is, therefore, fair to state that at the

elementary school stage, females are receiving the same educa-

tion opportunity as males. It is, however, a fact that the propor-

tion of male students in senior high school was still far greater

than for females.

There was an exception in that female students were much

more highly represented than males at the “technical high school”15,

in particular in the rural areas. This was a result of the demand s

of the job market in rural areas. It was also note worthy that

there were a number of female students (about 2% - 3%), who

did not finish their degrees, as has been shown by recent re-

search (Tan, 2011). The most recent development is that there

are a significant amount of females participating in higher or

adult higher education diploma training courses. The aforesaid

training courses focus on nursing, secretarial, public relations,

financial sectors, as well as tourism and IT sectors, all of which

reflect the current market needs.

In summary, the current development of the modern educa-

tion system in mainland China has brought better opportunities

for females, in terms of receiving better higher education. The

“technical high school” and “job training diploma courses” also

offered training opportunities, which reflecting the job market

needs, in particular, those opportunities for females. Subse-

quently, these circumstances provide basic preconditions for

females; to be able to participate in social and economics ac-

tivities, which will in turn, raise the social status of females.

An Overview of Legal Education in Mainland China

Here, we briefly summarise the legal education and statistics

as regards the employment position of women in the legal field

in mainland China:

1) Recently, there numbered 609 Law Colleges or Law De-

partments under the authority of other Colleges around main-

land China16;

2) 628 Undergraduate students, with 241 male and 387 fe-

male students, at Shanghai Maritime University;

3) 447 Postgraduate students, with 163 male, 284 female

students, at Shanghai Maritime University;

4) 200,000 Judges, with 44,502 of them being females, in

mainland China;

5) 214,900 Prosecutors, with a little more than 30,000 being

female;

6) 143,000 Lawyers, with 23,753 of them being female.

Taiwan Regi on

An Overview of the Education System in Taiwan Region

The principle of the “equality of males and female s” was ex-

plicitly stipulated in the Constitution Law of Taiwan17. Even so,

it remains a fact that this principle cannot be applied entirely

throughout all the laws in Taiwan. For example, Article 1059 I

of the Civil Act states that “children should be named after their

father’s surname”. Another typical example is that if the couple

operates a “joint financial management system”, the husband

will have the final say in any dispute18.

14Here, “higher education” means education at college or postgraduate levels.

15These types of school provide professional training that reflects the needs

of the job market, examples being, IT skills and accountancy.

16Due to the lack of information about total numbers of law colleges and

students of law colleges in China, we prefer to analyze only one Law Col-

lege in this s t udy.

17Article 7 of the Constitution Law of Taiwan.

18Article 1018 I of the Civil Act. In accordance with a recent survey published by the Internal

O. S. DURAK ET AL. 67

Department, Taiwan region, 33.85% of the entire population is

in receipt college or postgraduate education. 33.21% of people

have received senior high school or technical high school train-

ing whereas, 15.69% of the population only received primary

school education. It was also observed that the proportion of

people receiving college or postgraduate education has increased

by 17.86% in the past 10 years. The literacy rate for over 15

year olds was 97.6%, which means that, in 100 people, there

are still 2.4 people who are illiterate. The female literacy rate

was 3.5% lower than for males, which was due to the fact that

male literacy rate was 22.6% higher among people over 65

years of age but the rate figure was virtually equal among those

under the age of 40.

Analyzing the population structure, 6.4 million people receive

college or even higher education. Among these, 3.38 million

(52.75%) are males and 3.02 million (47.25%) are females. It

was noteworthy that a higher percentage of the female popula-

tion received higher education as opposed to males, among the

under 35 age group. Those over 35, however, displayed the

opposite situation to that of the females. This is due to the fact

that in the early stages of educational development, females’

education rights were significantly ignored. The gap was enor-

mous, in particular, for those over the age of 50.

An Overview of Legal Education in Taiwan Region

Here, we briefly indicate the legal education and relevant

statistics on the employment positions of women in the legal

field in Taiwan region:

7) Currently, there are 45 Law Colleges providing law edu-

cation, among the 145 Universities in Taiwan region;

8) Judges in Taiwan region; in total, there are 1713 Judges,

1028 of them being male and 685 of them, females (Judicial

Yuan, 2009);

9) Prosecutors in Taiwan region; There are 1225 Prosecutors,

with 824 of them being male and 401 of them, female (Ministry

of Justice, 2009).

In relation to Taiwan region, unfortunately we have been

unable to establish the details a regards lawyers and their sex

ratio, however, fortunately we have been able to identify un-

dernoted data relating to the gender ratio of law college stu-

dents, this being as undern o te d .

In accordance with the statistic as has been shown in Table 1,

we may conclude that, in recent years, the differences in gender

ratio in colleges of Taiwan region have reduced and nowadays,

the difference in the gender ratio in law colleges is remarkably

low. The statistics indicates that, for example, in 2008, the ratio

had almost reached parity.

The current development in Taiwan region is that female le-

gal scholars19 who received higher education abroad and now

gradually have impact on the society, in particular at the politi-

cal sector. This tendency will in turn encourage more female

students to persuade their postgraduate study abroad. The over-

all outcome of this tendency is, however, subject to further ob-

servation.

Turkey

An Overview of the Education System in Turkey

Article 10 of the Constitution of the Turkish Republic ex-

plicitly prescribes the equality of males and females. In the

context of Article 10, males and females have equal rights and

Table 1.

The gender ratio of law college students in Taiwan (Ministry of Edu-

cation, 2009).

Sex Ratio

Year Male Female

1998 56.86% 43.14%

1999 57.15% 42.85%

2000 55.57% 44.43%

2001 55.22% 44.78%

2002 54.12% 45.88%

2003 53.41% 46.59%

2004 52.50% 47.50%

2005 51.81% 48.19%

2006 51.40% 48.60%

2007 51.00% 49.00%

2008 50.53% 49.47%

the State undertakes the responsibility of achieving this equality.

With regard to second part of the Constitution, according to the

Fundamental Rights, Article 27, everyone has the right to learn,

teach and to introduce and research science and art. Consistent

with the Articles 10 and 27, 42 stipulates that none can be di-

vested of the education right.

In accordance with Article 42, primary education is compul-

sory for both males and females and is free of charge in the

State schools. The State undertakes the responsibility to provide

scholarships and other kinds of appropriate measures to assist

students from financially disadvantaged backgrounds. In addi-

tion to the framework prescribed in the Constitution, the Na-

tional Education Code, the Turkish Civil Code, the Population

Service Code, the Turkish Criminal Code, the Criminal Pro-

ceeding Code, the Code on Unification of Education, the Code

on Protection of Family and the Labour Code, all stipulate Ar-

ticles relating to right to education and the principle of equality

between males and females.

The compulsory elementary education in Turkey provides for

8 years of education for every citizen and is free of charge in

the State schools, under the terms of the National Education Code

and the Code on the Unification of Education. The Constitution

and relevant Codes prescribe that States undertake the respon-

sibility to provide all proper measures to achieve elementary

education, this being without charge in the State schools. These

regulations and State policy help to partly ease the financial pres-

sures on some families, in particular those in rural areas and par-

ticularly those in the eastern and south-eastern parts of Turkey.

In accordance with a recent survey published by the Turkish

Statistics Organization, the literacy rate for those over 15 years

old age is 91.760%. The illiteracy rate of males above 15 years

of age is, however, 3.687% (among all males over 15 years of

age), the illiteracy rate for females in the same age group is

14.749% (Ministry of Education, 2009). 7.275% of people who

exceed 15 years of age receive college or other higher edu-

cation; 18.943% of these receive high school or technical high

school education; 16.103% receive mid-school education and

34.352% receive only primary school education (Ministry of

Education, 2009). Analyzing the population structure and sta-

tistics, the literacy rate in Turkey is significantly lower than in

mainland China and Taiwan region. The statistics for Turkey

indicate that the literacy rate of females has increased rapidly

since the foundation of Turkish Republic in 1923 but the rate of

19For example, Ex-Vice Taiwan Region leader Miss Lu and the current re-

gional leader candidate Miss Tsai.

O. S. DURAK ET AL.

literacy for females still does not reach the same rates as in the

developed countries and still needs further development, in

order to achieve 100% literacy in the State.

An Overview of Legal Education in Turkey

Here, we briefly indicate the legal education and statistics as

regards the employment positions of women in the legal field in

the Turkish Republic.

Currently, there are 48 Law College (22 of them are State

owned and 26 of them are Private University Law Colleges)

providing legal education, among the 139 Universities (The

Council of Higher Education, 20 09) (94 of them are State owned

and 45 of them are Private Universities) in the country. Educa-

tion in Law Colleges in Turkey is based on classical the lectur-

ing methodology and in particular, follows German education

methods. The legal education system is based on one way pre-

sentations, meaning that Professors deliver presentations on theat-

rical issues and Research Assistants deliver presentations on

practical issues. Students’ interactive participation in classes is

limited, with the practical issues being delivered by Research

Assistants. Unfortunately, we are unable to elicit any statistics

as regards numbers of Law College students in Turkey and the

gender ratio thereof. Even although males and females have

apparent equality and the same opportunity to enter law colleges,

the gender ratio of those working as legal professionals in Tur-

key indicates that males still playing the dominant role.

With regard to Table 2 (Turkish Statistical Institute, 2009),

whereas the percentage of female judges from the total in Tur-

key was 29.334% in 1997, the percentage in 2007 was 28.200%,

being and slightly less than in 1997.

With regard to Table 3 (Turkish Statistical Institute, 2009),

the percentage of female public prosecutors in the Turkish Re-

public in 1997 was 3.62%, whereas, by 2007 the figure had ri sen

to 5.625%. The gender ratio of female prosecutors in Turkey is

thus, significantly less than in mainland China or Taiwan region.

With regard to Table 4 (Turkish Statistical Institute, 2009),

the percentage of female lawyers in Turkey, as at 31st December

2008, was 36.832% of the total. This statistic indicates that

female legal professionals prefer to participate as a lawyer,

rather than as a judge or public prosecutor in Turkey20.

Discussions and Recommendations

Even although this study does not aim to focus on statistical

analysis, when considering the tables above, it may be concluded

that Taiwan region has the highest literacy rate and highest rate

for college or above college level graduation. Compared to

mainland China and Taiwan region, the literacy rate in Turkey

is significantly lower and needs to take further steps and meas-

ures to improve the country’s literacy and education situation.

The gender ratio for primary school education in mainland

China, Taiwan region and Turkey, is almost the same. Despite

the gender ratio of females being similar for primary education,

the ratio of females in higher education is markedly lower than

for males in both States.

In addition to the general problems of higher e ducation oppor -

tunities for females, legal education and the legal professional

field have its own unique difficulties, such as:

Table 2.

The gender ratio of Judges in the Turkish Republic.

Judge

Years Female Male Total

1999 1554 3745 5299

2000 2599 3973 6572

2001 1674 4225 5899

2002 1725 4388 6113

2003 1744 4473 6217

2004 1687 4288 5975

2005 1692 4284 5976

2006 1722 4461 6183

2007 1995 5081 7076

Table 3.

The gender ratio of Prosecutors in the Turkish Republic.

Prosecutors

Year Female Male Total

1999 100 2676 2776

2000 100 2776 2876

2001 111 2938 3049

2002 122 3114 3236

2003 130 3169 3299

2004 139 3088 3227

2005 130 3039 3169

2006 172 3297 3469

2007 215 3607 3822

Table 4.

The gender ratio of Lawyers with relating to the five largest Bar Asso-

ciations and the total number in Turkey.

Lawyers

Place of Bar Female Male Total

Adana 502 952 1454

Ankara 3551 5403 8954

Antalya 694 1358 2052

Bursa 508 1111 1619

Istanbul 9210 14,674 238,884

Izmir 2076 3415 5491

Total in Turkey23,378 40,109 63,487

 Enforced education period;

 Negative public opinion as regards legal professionals;

 Enforced and stressful working conditions;

 Physical and mental harassments of female legal profess-

sionals.

Taking into account these considerations, we would recom-

mend the undernoted aims and objectives for both States and

Taiwan region:

 Aim to achieve 100% literacy in 15 - 20 years and to take

all appropriate measures to secure this;

 Positively encourage female students to enter the university

exams;

20Unfortunately we are unable to reach the sex ratio of female public nota-

ries and female law college professors and lecturers in Turkey and in orde

to this we are unable to count those i ssues in this stu dy.  Create a better law education and legal professional field

O. S. DURAK ET AL. 69

for everyone;

 Avoid all types of harassments against female legal profes-

sionals.

Based on the above discussion, we cannot reach a conclusion

that more female legal professions will enhance the protection

of women’s rights. What we can conclude is that there is a ge-

neral intention in both States and region to provide equal edu-

cation opportunity for female. Female students are more likely

to choose “law” as a subject of their higher education, however,

the current figures indicate that male is still dominating legal pro-

fessions. What is important is that equal opportunity should be

guaranteed no matter education or latter get into the job market.

Acknowledgements

The field work for this research was supported by the “Inde-

pendent Innovati on Foundation of Shandong University”. Grant-

ing number: IFW10053.

References

Gao, X. (2004). Chinese women’s education in women’s eyes. Jiangxi

Institute of Education, 6, 24.

Huang, Q. L. (2006). Comparison of education in the rural areas be-

tween China and India. Master Degree Thesis, Jilin: Northeast Nor-

mal University.

Judicial Yuan (Taiwan) (2009). The employer’s number belonging to

the Judicial Yuan. URL (last checked 30 November 2009)

http://www.judicial.gov.tw/juds/report/st-1.htm

Ministry of Education (Taiwan) (2009). Gender statistics indicators.

URL (last checked 30 November 200 9)

http://www.edu.tw/statistics/content.aspx?site_content_sn=8168

Ministry of Education (Turkey) (2009). The population of completed

education level and sex. URL (l a st c he c ke d 30 N ov e mber 2009)

http://report.tuik.gov.tr/reports/rwservlet?adnksdb2=&report=turkiye

_cinsiyet_yas_egitim_top.RDF&p_xkod=egitim_kod&p_yas=15&p_

yil=2008&p_dil=1&desformat=pdf&ENVID=adnksdb2Env

Ministry of Education (Turkey) (2009). The population of literacy

status and sex. URL (last checked 30 November 2009)

http://report.tuik.gov.tr/reports/rwservlet?adnksdb2=&report=turkiye

_cinsiyet_yas_egitim_top.RDF&p_xkod=okuryazar_kod&p_yas=15

&p_yil=2008&p_dil=1&desformat=pdf&ENVID=adnksdb2Env

Ministry of Justice (Taiwan) (2009). The number of prosecutors. URL

(last checked 30 Novem ber 2009)

http://www.moj.gov.tw/site/moj/public/MMO/moj/stat/gender/prost.

pdf

Tan, L. (2011). China’s gender equality and women’s development

report 1995-2005. URL (last checked 21 July 2011)

http://en.wsic.ac.cn/researchproduction / 1376.htm

The Council of Higher Education (Turkey) (2009). The statistics of

state universities. URL (last checked 30 November 2009)

http://www.yok.gov.tr/content/view/531/ lang,tr/

Turkish Statistical Institute (Turkey) (2009). Dynamic query databases

and statistical tables. URL (l a st checked 30 N ov ember 2009)

http://www.tuik.gov.tr/VeriBilgi.do?tb_id=41&ust_id=11

上一篇:“You Know Who the Sluts Are” 下一篇:In No-Man’s Land. Community,

我要分享到：

职称论文发表交流平台！

Legal Education for Women—A Comparison of Practice in China and Turkey

最新文章NEWS

推荐期刊Tui Jian

热点文章HOT