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Women’s human rights education trainers in
Turkey: situated empowerment for social change
Felisa L. Tibbitts
To cite this article: Felisa L. Tibbitts (2015): Women’s human rights education trainers
in Turkey: situated empowerment for social change, Journal of Peace Education, DOI:
10.1080/17400201.2015.1103722
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2. Women’s human rights education trainers in Turkey: situated
empowerment for social change
Felisa L. Tibbitts*
Institute for Reconciliation and Social Justice, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein,
South Africa
(Received 18 February 2015; accepted 30 September 2015)
This article presents evidence of the links between human rights education and
social change by analyzing the long-term effects on 88 trainers engaged in a
non-formal adult training program sponsored by a women’s human rights group
in Turkey, Women for Women’s Human Rights – New Ways. In this article, I
show the transformative impacts of carrying out human rights education on the
trainers themselves: in their identity; knowledge, skills, and attitudes; and behav-
iors in their family and in the workplace. This article extends the treatment of an
emerging question within social change theory – that of the long-term influence
on activists brought about by their very engagement in these activities. At the
same time, because the activists are trainers associated with a human rights edu-
cation program that infuses critical pedagogy with a feminist perspective, this
qualitative case study provides the opportunity to explore ‘situated empower-
ment’ on trainers in both their personal and professional domains. The article
concludes that further studies of human rights educators engaged as long-term
trainers will further enrich the social change literature and the treatment of
activists.
Keywords: non-formal education; human rights education; critical pedagogy;
women’s empowerment; social change
Introduction
Human rights education (HRE) practices are focused on changing behaviors and
practices, but our eyes are typically leveled at the learners. How can programs be
organized in order to facilitate capacity development? How can attitudes and actions
consistent with the values of non-discrimination, equality, and respect for human
dignity be fostered through trainings? Educators engaged in such programs are
typically seen as instrumental in such learning processes, with their effectiveness
measured through the evaluation of learner outcomes.
While the available literature investigates how HRE influences the students, few
studies have focused on human rights educators themselves and their learning.
Drawing on key concepts in HRE, critical pedagogy, and feminist theory, this article
considers how human rights educators engaged in non-formal adult training spon-
sored by a women’s human rights group in Turkey describe the impact of the educa-
tional program on their own lives. Using data from a qualitative study involving
surveys and semi-structured interviews with 88 educators collected for the period of
*Email: ftibbitts@hrea.org
© 2015 Taylor & Francis
Journal of Peace Education, 2015
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3. 2006–2011, I argue that the process of being prepared to carry out HRE and the
experience of facilitation itself influences trainers in their private domain, as
validated through by the feminist approach, and in the public domain both in their
professional roles and as activists.
Background on Turkey women’s rights movement
Violence against women in Turkey has been a long-standing tragedy, and the lack of
women’s shelters and their legal protection was the original impetus for the estab-
lishment of the organization Women for Women’s Human Rights (WWHR) – New
Ways. As recently as 2009, studies were showing rampant domestic violence, with
nearly 40% of the female population experiencing violence in their lifetime and
hundreds of women killed each year by husbands, partners, and family members
(ICON 2009). Community-based women’s groups have provided a safe haven to
women for decades and the General Directorate of Social Services (GDSS) of Tur-
key has offered counseling and vocational training courses specifically geared
towards women. Although literacy and primary school completion rates are high for
both women and men in Turkey, they are somewhat lower for those coming from
rural areas.1
The women’s human rights movement in Turkey has been active since the
1990s, with the expansion of women’s human rights groups including WWHR.
Women’s activism contributed to the reform of the Turkish Criminal and Civil
Codes so that women were afforded stronger protection. This activism was ongoing
during the time that the study was undertaken. As recently as 2010, Turkey passed a
law specifically aimed against domestic violence, though activists point out its
ineffectiveness in light of contemporary statistics that show ongoing violence and
murder (Siebert 2014).
Women for Women’s Human Rights – New Ways and HRE
WWHR – New Ways in Turkey is a non-governmental organization (NGO) that has
organized a legal literacy program for adult women through a 14-year partnership
with the Turkish GDSS. WWHR prepares GDSS staff to deliver a 16-week Human
Rights Education Program (HREP) for women who come to local community cen-
ters to receive services. This article incorporates the results of a 2010–2011 impact
assessment that included influences on individual social workers and psychologists
trained by WWHR to facilitate the study groups, as well as the results on the
operation of the community centers and the GDSS as a whole (Tibbitts 2012).
The HREP was developed by WWHR – New Ways as a transformative holistic
HREP in 1995. Based on both a legal rights and gender perspective, the 16-week
program seeks to empower women to know and claim their rights both in the private
sphere (including familial relations, sexual and reproductive rights, gender sensitive
parenting) and the public sphere (including economic rights, political rights,
organizing, and access to justice).
According to WWHR literature, the specific objectives of HREP are:
• Enable women to gain awareness of their rights as equal citizens;
• Raise women’s consciousness of how customary practices, i.e. ‘unwritten’
laws, often limit or violate their rights;
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4. • Serve as a catalyst for women’s organizing efforts on the local and national
levels and support grassroots organizing initiatives;
• Support women in developing strategies for the implementation of their legal
rights in daily life.
HREP was developed through a series of pilot applications between 1995 and
1997, first in the shantytown areas of Istanbul and then in the Southeastern
region of Turkey. Since its pilot application phase, HREP has expanded to over
50 cities in all seven regions of Turkey, and as of fall 2013, nearly 9300 women
had participated in the program. The program is implemented in partnership with
the Turkish GDSS, municipal agencies, and the NGO sector. This partnership has
since extended to other GDSS sites such as family counseling centers and
women’s shelters. In 2011, 85 community centers in 46 provinces and 43
women’s shelters in 40 provinces were attached to HREP. Staff members of
GDSS who participate in the WWHR training-of-trainers program are given per-
mission to carry out trainings as part of their regular work. It is currently the
most widespread, longest-running, and comprehensive non-formal adult HREP in
the region, and a unique example of sustainable NGO–state partnership in the
field of women’s human rights in Turkey.
The HREP sessions are facilitated by a HREP trainer. Between 1998 and 2010,
166 women were certified as HREP trainers. One hundred and thirty-seven of these
trainers were social workers from the GDSS, with the remaining 29 trainers based in
NGOs, municipalities, and other civil society organizations.
Trainers participated in a 12-day seminar organized through WWHR. Candidates
received HREP trainer certificates after they had opened and finished their first
group and received a supervision visit from a WWHR supervisor. In addition,
WWHR organized evaluation and coordination meetings with new trainers and
regional meetings with all trainers from across Turkey. These processes – combined
with a careful selection process of those prospective HREP facilitators – were estab-
lished in order to help ensure that the trainers used in the program were of high
quality and that they would maintain a long-term commitment to initiating HREP
groups, also known as ‘kiheps.’
HREP trainers brought women together for half-day workshops (study groups)
weekly over a 16-week period. Through activities and discussions, HREP focused
on awareness raising in legal literacy, self-empowerment, and building solidarity
relationships among study group members and other HREP groups in the country.
Consistent with feminist epistemology, women were encouraged to produce their
own knowledge on the basis of their perspective and life experience and to apply
this critical (women’s human rights) consciousness in their lives. The program fos-
tered a range of specific skills such as communication, women’s organizing, and
gender-sensitive parenting. Study group themes also included feminism and the
women’s movement and women’s grassroots organizing.
The pedagogy used in the study groups reflects those of (general) critical peda-
gogy, in that it encourages the sharing of experience (based on the life experience of
women, as defined by themselves); dialogue; critical reflection; community building
in the group; and a focus on topics of relevance to participants. The women sit in a
circle and the trainer sits with them, so as to help create a democratic environment.
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5. The trainer guides the group through the agenda for the session, which is oriented
towards discussion and activity-based learning.
Literature
Collective identity and engagement in social action
Within social movement theory, collective identity has been explored primarily in
relation to resource mobilization. Specifically, structuralist, state-centered, and ratio-
nale choice models as applied to resource mobilization have focused on which peo-
ple mobilize and why, as well as the tactical choices that activists make (Polletta
and Jasper 2001, 283, 298). Theorists have proposed that an analysis of successful
movements involves attention to identity as an outcome of a movement rather purely
as a precondition. They refer to new and changed identities being aimed for ‘not
only at building solidarity but also at changing selves and relationships in ways that
extend beyond the movement’ (Breines 1989; Epstein 1991; Lichterman 1999 as
quoted on Polletta and Jasper 2001, 296). This observation may be directly relevant
for educational activities carried out in support of social change and human rights
movements.
The idea that participation in a movement may have political as well as per-
sonal implications is also explored by McAdam (1989). He proposes greater
attention to the later stages of social movements and the ‘powerful and enduring
effects of participation on the later lives of activists’ (746). This principle may
also have relevance for those engaged in social movements specifically as educa-
tors. This article examines the impacts of engagement as human rights educators
in a non-formal education program with a specific agenda to forward the
women’s human rights movement in Turkey through empowerment of the learner
and collective action.
In the human rights literature, the topic of educators is typically raised in conjunc-
tion with their qualifications for and ability to carry out HRE. In other words, their
value to the human rights movement is linked instrumentally with their ability to
carry out effective programming, which can be seen as aligned with the attention to
resource mobilization in social change theory. Little to no attention has been paid
to the impact on educators themselves in carrying out these tasks.
HRE, feminism, and social change
The most widely accepted definition of HRE is that offered by the United Nations,
whose General Assembly passed in December 2011 a Declaration on HRE and
Training with the following language (Article 2):
(1) HRE and training comprises all educational, training, information, aware-
ness-raising and learning activities aimed at promoting universal respect for
and observance of all human rights and fundamental freedoms and thus con-
tributing, inter alia, to the prevention of human rights violations and abuses
by providing persons with knowledge, skills and understanding and
developing their attitudes and behaviors, to empower them to contribute to
the building and promotion of a universal culture of human rights.
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6. (2) HRE and training encompasses:
(a) Education about human rights, which includes providing knowledge and
understanding of human rights norms and principles, the values that
underpin them and the mechanisms for their protection;
(b) Education through human rights, which includes learning and teaching
in a way that respects the rights of both educators and learners;
(c) Education for human rights, which includes empowering persons to
enjoy and exercise their rights and to respect and uphold the rights of
others.
HRE about, through and for HR is intended to reduce HRE violations. HRE is
therefore associated, on the one hand, with short-term mobilization intended to influ-
ence the behavior of governments (also known as ‘duty bearers’ within the human
rights framework) as well as education oriented towards longer term social change
through the changed beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors of individuals in ways consis-
tent with those outlined in the standards.
The meaning of the term ‘empowerment’ is subject to some debate and can
perhaps best be understood when operationalized within a particular context. Gore
(1992) distinguishes three meanings of empowerment:
(1) An agent of empowerment,
(2) A notion of power as property, and
(3) Some kind of vision or desirable end state (56).
Feminist theory specifically identifies areas of impact as including both the pri-
vate and public domains, with parallel and intersecting visions of changed power
relations at both the interpersonal and societal/structural levels. This is the ‘personal
is political’ principle of feminism (McAdam 1989).
The human rights movement as a whole has been perhaps overly defined by its
association with legal standards and social action goals to influence political and
legal environments. The women’s movement has always recognized that gender
equality would be brought about by a social movement that encompasses such legal
and policy reforms, but also through the empowerment of individual women. The
aims of women’s human rights organizations towards influencing both national
protection systems as well as grassroots social change has required any HRE
programming that is organized to potentially contribute towards both.
Forms of empowerment
The literature on HRE has gravitated towards empowerment as a key feature of suc-
cessful programming. At the same time, empowerment is a multifaceted and
nuanced concept that is difficult to define in concrete and observable terms. As a
result, researchers, planners, and evaluators may find themselves questioning how
exactly to define and operationalize the notion of empowerment.
Conger and Kanungo (1988, 472–474) draw a distinction between relational and
motivational constructs of empowerment. The relational construct regards power as
dependent on relationships between individuals with varying degrees of control.
This conceptualization treats empowerment as the conferral of power to those with
less situational control, resulting in a greater sharing of authority. This model has
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7. applications within the fields of organizational psychology and management – areas
that have spurred substantial exploration into the meaning of empowerment. In con-
sidering applications to the field of HRE, this understanding may be useful in guid-
ing the practitioner toward a participatory process that de-emphasizes authority of
planners or teachers, yet it presents several shortcomings. One significant drawback
is that the relational construct, although potentially useful in examining power
dynamics and control structures within an HRE training setting, fails to account for
internal changes at the individual level and how HRE participants may carry their
empowerment forward into new social contexts with new actors and power
gradients.
The motivational construct, on the other hand, provides a more encompassing
conceptualization of empowerment for the purposes of deconstructing HRE. Power
in this motivational sense can be viewed as a more internal dynamic that isn’t neces-
sarily conferred from above (Conger and Kanungo 1988, 743) – rather one which is
rooted in the individual’s attitudes and beliefs. Drawing on this motivational con-
struct, Conger and Kanungo thus define empowerment as, ‘a process of enhancing
feelings of self-efficacy among organizational members through the identification of
conditions that foster powerlessness and through their removal by both formal orga-
nizational practices and informal techniques of providing efficacy information’
(474). The notion of motivational empowerment is ultimately grounded in lived
experiences and specific identities, such as that of gender, and strategies of liberation
can thus be considered ‘situated empowerment.’ Here we can recognize the potential
role of education and, specifically, critical pedagogy.
Critical pedagogy and situated empowerment
Critical pedagogy is associated with the HRE transformative model, which is typi-
cally used with marginalized groups and in order to promote activism (Tibbitts
2002). Critical pedagogy was strongly influenced by the works of Freire (1968,
1973), who endorsed students’ ability to think critically about their education situa-
tion; this way of thinking allowed them to ‘recognize connections between their
individual problems and experiences and the social contexts in which they are
embedded.’ Realizing one’s consciousness (conscientization) is a needed first step of
‘praxis,’ which is defined as the power and know-how to take action against
oppression while stressing the importance of liberating education. ‘Praxis involves
engaging in a cycle of theory, application, evaluation, reflection, and then back to
theory. Social transformation is the product of praxis at the collective level.’
Feminist perspectives are based on an understanding that all knowledge and
social relations are gendered and shaped by our personal experiences through gender
(Maher 1987; Shrewsbury 1987; Sandell 1991). Post-development and second-wave
feminists have recognized that gender is, in itself, insufficiently broad. Women’s
class, race, and tribe may result in cultural, political, and historical implications for
individual experiences as women (Janzen 2008, 8). Feminists applying poststruc-
turalist theories have considered how empowerment is situated within particular con-
texts (Gore 1992, 66). Thus, ‘local knowing’ and difference needs to be incorporated
within educational processes intended for empowerment and the facilitation of
self-knowledge (Sandell 1991, 181; Janzen 2008, 8). In the mid-1980s to early
1990s, feminist theory was influenced by both postmodernist and cultural-identity
theory, which ‘validates difference, challenges universal claims to truth, and seeks to
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8. create social transformation in a world of shifting and uncertain meanings’ (Weiler
1991, 49–450).
Implications of theoretical perspectives
The case study of HREP allows for an exploration of the long-term impact on acti-
vists as a result of their engagement in carrying out HRE activities. Such impacts
would logically take place in less visible ways (through motivation, attitudes, and
skills) as well as in external behaviors.
The location of this HRE program within a women’s human rights group that
has consciously undertaken their efforts through critical pedagogy with a feminist
perspective, allows us to explore the outcomes of ‘situated empowerment’ on train-
ers both in terms of predispositions, knowledge, and attitudes, but also in relation to
behaviors. These behaviors are not restricted to collective action – as one might look
for in human rights activism – but to social change processes grounded in interper-
sonal relationships, community life, and work activities.
These theoretical areas are underdeveloped in the social change and the HRE lit-
erature, respectively, and have not been considered in connection with one another.
Methods and data
The study used a mixed-methods approach, including surveys, interviews with key
informants and focus groups of trainers, observations, and document review. The
data that are the basis of this article was collected between January and May 2011
(Tibbitts 2012). The study was designed to review the previous seven years of
HREP programming (2005–2011). Although a primary aim was to document
impacts on alumni, an additional aim was to examine impact on GDSS-affiliated
trainers (both personally and professionally). The impact study assessed to what
extent HREP contributed to the ‘situated empowerment’ of trainers realizing and
exercising their human rights, overcoming human rights violations they face, and
how gendered notions and perceptions were internalized. The study also explored
how the work of individual trainers was affected by the integration of a gender per-
spective. In order to collect evidence and associated results of the integration of the
gender perspective within GDSS, both at the national and community levels, inter-
views were carried out with trainers as well as GDSS managers. The study exam-
ined how managers and associated HREP trainers (e.g. social workers,
psychologists) perceived the institutional collaboration between GDSS and WWHR.
This methodological approach draws on phenomenology, which focuses on peo-
ple’s subjective experiences and interpretations of the world. As the study was based
on the trainers’ own perceptions, it can be said to have high internal validity, though
the nature of the study does not allow the results to be generalized.
Participants
The data presented for trainers are based primarily on a questionnaire administered
in February 2011 to the 125 ‘active’ trainers from within WWHR’s larger pool of
166 trained persons. These ‘active’ trainers who received a questionnaire were
selected by the director of HREP at WWHR as having successfully initiated HREP
groups between 2006 and 2011 and demonstrated continued engagement in the
program.
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9. The survey contained 45 closed-ended and three open-ended questions, including
background information and self-reported impacts in the same areas as learners:
knowledge and awareness; attitudes and feelings; skills; and behaviors and actions
in both the private and public domains, including familial relations, sexual and
reproductive rights, gender-sensitive parenting, economic rights, political rights,
organizing and access to justice.
A total of 88 trainers completed a survey, across 36 provinces, representing all
seven regions of the country. These 88 trainers represent 70% of the pool of active
trainers. Thirty-nine percent of the trainers were based in either the Ankara or Istan-
bul metropolitan areas. The comparison between the geographical distribution of
trainers completing the survey with the larger pool of ‘active trainers’ shows that the
percentages are fairly close, with the exception of Central Anatolia, which was over-
represented among those completing the questionnaire (Table 1).
Focus group and individual interviews were carried out with 18 facilitators to
reflect on their own experiences in the program and its impacts on them. The
research was carried out via post only but with high validity.
For the survey, I used the same domains as I did with the learners – exploring
for results in both the private and public spheres. This is in keeping with feminist
theory that recognizes both areas as relevant for the women’s social change, e.g. a
greater equalization of gender roles in personal relationships as well as social acti-
vism. In addition, I incorporated questions related to the facilitators in their profes-
sional roles (as this is how they became engaged as trainers) and impacts on the
operation of the community centers and NGOs. In addition, five GDSS senior man-
agers were interviewed in order to examine the impact of the WWHR collaboration
on their operation.
Procedure
The methodological framework for the study, as well as instrument development,
took into account the questionnaire administered in the 2004 WWHR external evalu-
ation study (Kardam 2004). The framework took into account WWHR’s reflections
on the strengths and weaknesses of this earlier effort, a review of HREP program
document and reports beginning with the year 2005, and the author’s previous expe-
rience in HRE and training program evaluation (Tibbitts et al., 2010).
The trainer questionnaire was developed following focus group interviews with
trainers carried out in January 2011. The trainer questionnaire was administered in
Table 1. Trainers by region.
Region No
Percentage of those
completing survey (%)
Percent of ‘active’ HREP
trainers (2005–2011) (%)
Central Anatolia 30 34 27
Marmara 18 21 25
Aegean 12 14 15
Mediterranean 12 14 14
East Anatolia 6 7 7
Black Sea 4 5 5
South East Anatolia 5 6 6
Northern Cyprus 1 1 1
Total 88 100 100
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10. February via email and regular mail by WWHR. The surveys did not request the
name of the trainer and yet the process for administering and returning question-
naires meant that complete anonymity could not be assured. The completed surveys
were returned to WWHR where they were input into a database.
As with the alumni, the study looked for evidence of ‘situated empowerment’
with HREP trainers along the following key outcome areas:
• The women’s rights perspective.
• Knowledge of laws and organizations protecting women’s human rights.
• Self-confidence and courage.
• Valuing of self.
• Identification of problems and solutions to these problems.
• A range of actions that women might have taken in relation to family relations,
their education, work, and activism.
The trainer questionnaire contained a set of closed-ended questions that asked
them to rate the impacts that the HREP trainings had on them, indicating ‘not at all,’
‘a little,’ or ‘quite a lot’ for items. An open-ended question at the end of the
questionnaire asked trainers to comment on the ‘most significant change’ that they
experienced based on their involvement in the HREP training. Follow-up questions
invited trainers to identify any other impacts of the training not previously indicated
in the questionnaire and how the program might be improved.
Individual and focus group interviews with trainers used a semi-structured inter-
view protocol that included questions related to impacts in the private and public
domains, as well as influences on the operation of their community center or organi-
zation.
The information provided in the trainer questionnaire was supplemented through
individual and focus group interviews. Eighteen interviews took place between
January and April 2011 and quotes from these conversations are incorporated within
this article.
The study investigated the results of HREP on its key government partner:
GDSS – a partner with whom WWHR had a 14-year collaboration. The impact
assessment examined the institutionalization of the gender perspective within the
operation of GDSS community centers and with staff associated with HREP. These
data were collected primarily through trainer questionnaires and interviews. In addi-
tion, the views of five GDSS managers at the national level were obtained through
interviews, in which they were asked to reflect on how their collaboration with
WWHR had influenced the work of GDSS.
Analysis
Data from the closed-ended questions were input into an Excel database that was
developed and maintained by WWHR. Descriptive statistics were developed on
these data.
Sixty-nine (78%) of the 88 trainers completing the questionnaire provided at
least one open-ended answer. These answers were compiled in a Word document
and then translated from Turkish to English by a member of the WWHR staff. The
author coded the English-language translation and quantified patterns. The data was
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11. coded in two analytical stages. The first level involved open coding of the written
responses.
For the second level of coding, I went back and developed subcategories for the
themes falling within each of the four categories. Open-ended responses reported by
10% or more of those completing open-ended answers were reported.
An analysis of variance procedure was performed on the trainer data in order to
investigate if there were statistically significant differences in the responses accord-
ing to several background characteristics, which could be associated with arenas of
empowerment – marital status; with or without children; number of people in the
household; and whether they were employed by GDSS or an NGO.2
This report
includes those answers for which any trainer background characteristics showed
statistically significant differences. The analysis of the quantitative and qualitative
data was completed in May 2011.
Limitations
The primary limitation of this study was selection bias. The non-randomized nature
of the study required WWHR to select a subset of trainers to participate in the study.
Presumably, the trainers who volunteered to complete the post-survey were those
demonstrating investment in and appreciation of the program. These sources would
therefore be predisposed to have a generally positive view of the program. The
result could be a tendency toward overstating the impact of HREP on the individual
level, particularly in ratings on closed-ended questions. Efforts were undertaken to
ensure the anonymity and confidentiality of survey respondents in order to
encourage honesty.
Methodologically, it is not possible to generalize any impacts across the com-
plete set of trainers, given the non-randomized nature of those participating in the
study. The consistency of the findings suggests that such results apply to the larger
pool of respondents, although the strength of these results cannot be predicted.
Another methodological limitation to this study was the willingness of trainers
to share their views on highly personal matters, including those associated with
trauma and stigma, such as violence in the home. One indication of a potential
under-reporting of experiences with domestic violence was the discrepancy
between the percentages of participants surveyed who reported such experiences
and the national statistics on domestic, physical abuse for women in general in
Turkey. It was not methodologically possible to correct for this potential under-
reporting. However, the author reviewed results to see if there were a noticeable
high numbers of ‘missing’ answers for any questions and this was not evident in
the trainer database.
Language was an additional factor that may have influenced the accuracy of
reported data. All questionnaires were administered in Turkish and translated into
English and, in turn, open-ended survey responses were translated back into English.
Interpreters were used for interviews conducted during site visits. Although WWHR
took great care in selecting these interpreters and translators, it cannot be determined
how technically accurately the English-language translations were and to what
degree movement between linguistic and conceptual constructs may have altered the
original, intended meanings of the sources.
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12. Results
HRE, feminism, and social change in the private domain
Background characteristics of trainers
Nearly three-fourths of the trainers indicated that they were married and had chil-
dren. Trainers almost unanimously had a university degree (initial or advanced). Of
the 87 trainers completing a survey, 77% were employed by GDSS, 17% by an
NGO, and the remaining 6% by another kind of organization.3
As Table 2 shows, there was a distribution across the trainers in terms of the year
they completed the WWHR trainer preparation program and the number of study
groups that they had led.
The trainers completing the questionnaire were relatively experienced in facilitat-
ing HREP groups, with more than half having lead four or more groups. Approxi-
mately half of all respondents had completed the TOT since the 2004 impact
assessment. Because of the potential association between the number of study
groups lead and impacts on trainers, this background characteristic for trainers was
used in the analysis of questionnaire results.
Impacts on HREP trainers
The results for questionnaire items were clustered according to the domains of
knowledge and awareness; attitudes; feelings/images of self; skills and behaviors.
These results are first shown across all trainers, according to percentages indicat-
ing ‘not at all,’ ‘a little,’ and ‘a lot.’ I then indicate if there were any variations
in these results for subcategories of trainers that may suggest an interaction
between background characteristics of the women and the level of HREP results.
The study results demonstrated outcomes for the trainers in both the private and
public domains, confirming the feminist outlook of WWHR and its HREP program
design. HREP had a clear and positive impact on trainers in all of the areas investi-
gated in surveys and interviews, including knowledge and awareness, attitudes and
feelings, skills, and behaviors and actions. These results were evident regardless of
the year the women had completed the HREP trainer training program; how many
study groups they had facilitated; and their personal background. The result thus
suggested that their collective identity as women were sufficient for ‘situated
empowerment.’
Trainers almost unanimously reported that HREP had improved their knowledge
of women’s rights and the Turkish legal documents protecting them. Over 90% of
Table 2. Trainer – year of completion of TOT & HREP groups.
Year completed training-of-
trainers No
Percent
(%)
Number of HREP groups
lead No
Percent
(%)
Between 1996–2000 25 28 0 groups 15 17
Between 2001–2005 30 34 1–3 groups 21 24
Between 2006–2011 33 38 4–6 groups 24 27
7–9 groups 17 19
10 or more groups 11 13
Total 88 100 88 100
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13. the trainers reported increased knowledge on the topics of reproductive rights,
women’s sexuality, and related government policies. The vast majority of trainers
also indicated that because of their engagement with HREP, they were more
self-confident and courageous; had increased solidarity with other women; and had
gained skills that would increase their capacity to claim their rights, including the
ability to communicate effectively, to make decisions, and to recognize and address
problems.
Further details on the impact of HREP on trainers are now presented.
Knowledge and awareness. Trainers were asked to indicate their level of agreement
with a series of questions pertaining to knowledge and awareness. Trainers nearly
unanimously reported gains for this category of impact, with levels especially high
for items related to legal literacy, a key feature of HREP. Aside from a later item
related to women’s solidarity, gains in knowledge and awareness were the highest
for trainers across all other questionnaire categories (Table 3).
In interviews, trainers sometimes made direct reference to knowledge of
women’s rights and the ways in which they apply this lens in analyzing the events
around them. A sample response:
When I’m doing HREP groups, I’m also questioning myself. To what extent am I able
to enjoy my rights – at home, at work, in daily life? So the groups are triggers that
keep the process alive. Otherwise in the daily routine of life, these kinds of things
might go unnoticed. The women in the group empower me …
Attitudes and feelings. As with the knowledge and awareness categories, trainers
consistently report gains in questions pertaining to attitudes and feelings. Trainers
almost unanimously reported feeling more solidarity with other women following
HREP. The tendency to report ‘a lot’ of increases in solidarity were highest for those
trainers who had facilitated 10 or more study groups.
Fifteen (22%) of the trainers who completed the open-ended questions wrote that
a significant impact on them was an increased sense of solidarity with women and
knowing the importance of women’s organizing. A sample response:
I used to think that my experiences were more of a personal problem rather than sys-
tematic repression, and that I had to overcome my problems on my own. Only after
this training I saw that the situation at hand was beyond me as a single individual, and
that many of these problems were indeed problems of the country … I understood that
instead of on my own, we the women must act together.
The trainers reported many positive changes in relation to the impact of HREP on
their inner resources. The questionnaire results showed that approximately half of
Table 3. Trainer knowledge and awareness – women’s rights and legal protections.
Item
Not at all
(%)
A little
(%)
A lot
(%)
My participation in the HREP training program has …
Helped me in developing a critical consciousness about
gender roles in Turkish society
0 15 85
Increased my understanding of the women’s rights perspective 1 13 88
Resulted in my learning about the legal documents that
protect women’s rights in Turkey
1 14 85
12 F.L. Tibbitts
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14. the trainers rated as ‘a lot’ increased self-confidence, valuing of themselves, and
courage, as shown in Table 4.
These results also emerged in trainers’ reporting of the ‘most significant change’
in them in relation to their participation in HREP. Sixteen (23%) of respondents
wrote in their open-ended responses that a significant impact on them was feeling
better or stronger.
Skills. Problem identification and problem-solving can be seen as associated with
critical pedagogy and the motivational construct of empowerment, which relies on
persons identifying conditions contributing to feelings of powerlessness. Questions
in the trainer survey asked respondents to report if and how much they were better
able to identify problems in their lives, and also if HREP had made them better able
to address them. As Table 5 shows, at least 85% of the respondents reported gains
in the skill areas related to problem-solving.
Behavior and actions – family relations. Over 95% of the trainers who completed
the questionnaire felt that the training had helped them to achieve their potential,
and 60% of the respondents indicated that HREP had helped them ‘a lot.’
Approximately 90% of the trainers reported that HREP had contributed to
improved relations with family members. At the same time, over one-third of the
women indicated that their participation in the program had resulted in increased
conflict in their families (Table 6).
Those trainers who were married reported higher gains than did their unmarried
counterparts.4
Some sample quotes from the interviews that were carried out:
I previously had not been aware of the inequalities that come with the traditional fam-
ily structure and I began to question everything about my family, my upbringing and
my marriage … My son, I am trying to raise him as a self-sufficient individual – as a
human being – rather than simply as a boy or man.
One of the main goals of HREP when it was initiated was to address the question of
domestic violence against women in Turkey. A May 2011 Human Rights Watch
(2011) report and a 2009 study sponsored by Turkey’s Directorate General on the
Status of Women have estimated that over 40% of Turkish women experience physi-
cal or sexual violence in their lifetime.5
The HREP questionnaire asked women to
indicate if they had experienced physical, emotional, or economic violence prior to
their participation in HREP and, if so, if there were any changes in this level of vio-
lence following their completion of the TOT.
Only one of the trainers indicated in the questionnaire that she had been sub-
jected to physical violence in her home prior to participating in the training-of-train-
ers program. This trainer indicated that this physical violence then stopped.
Table 4. Trainer feelings – about self.
Item
Not at all
(%)
A little
(%)
A lot
(%)
My participation in the HREP training program has …
Increased my overall self-confidence 6 43 51
Made me more courageous 7 45 48
Made me value myself more 6 32 62
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15. Thirty-one percent (27) of the trainers indicated that they were subjected to
emotional violence in their home before participating in the HREP program. Of
these, all but one (4%) of the trainers had a decrease (63%) or complete ending
(33%) of emotional violence.
Fourteen percent (12) of the trainers indicated that they were subjected to eco-
nomic violence in the home, a number that might be considered low if not for the
fact most trainers were university educated and professionals. Eighty-three percent
of those previously experiencing economic violence reported a decrease (33%) or
ending of economic violence (50%). One trainer reported that the economic violence
had not changed, and one trainer indicated that the economic violence had actually
increased.
HRE, feminism, and social change in the public domain
Behavior and actions – work and activism
In the study, WWHR was particularly interested to capture a range of potential
impacts related to women’s activism, including – but not exclusively measured by –
association with a women’s organization. The questionnaire thus included items that
attempted to capture having sustained agency for supporting women’s rights in their
communities.
As Table 7 shows, the majority of trainers reported that they had to some degree
become actively involved in a women’s organization, the women’s movement in
Turkey, and/or become more politically active in general as a result of HREP.
Those trainers already associated with an NGO reported relatively higher impacts
in relation to becoming involved in an existing women’s organization.6
I’m a member of a labor union. I worked very hard for a woman’s secretariat to be
established at the union, although beforehand I really didn’t feel the need for it … I’ve
carried out work related to women’s issues at our village’s association … Everywhere I
work hard to break the feudal structure. (trainer from Antalya)
Table 5. Trainer skills – problem identification and problem-solving.
Item
Not at all
(%)
A little
(%)
A lot
(%)
My participation in the HREP training program has …
Resulted in my recognizing problems in my life 9 47 44
Helped me in being able to solve problems in my life 15 50 37
Helped me in being able to solve the problems of others
around me
1 31 68
Table 6. Trainer behavior and actions – family relations.
Item
Not at all
(%)
A little
(%)
A lot
(%)
My participation in the HREP training program has …
Enabled me to improve my relations with family
members
16 55 30
Resulted in increased conflict within my family 66 26 8
14 F.L. Tibbitts
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16. Impacts of HREP on its government partner: GDSS
Perhaps more importantly, as the vast majority of the trainers were employees of
GDSS, the results show the long-term results on both their professional activities
and GDSS programming.
The GDSS Branch Director for Community Centers indicated in an interview
that incorporating the women’s perspective had affected their work at the community
level by leading them to consider the possibility of discrimination as an underlying
cause of women who suffer from violence. Eleven of the 14 trainers interviewed for
this study were GDSS staff and they shared many ways in which HREP had influ-
enced their programming. These changes reflected the treatment of women as ‘rights
holders’ with agency as opposed to only beneficiaries receiving services; and sensi-
tivity to underlying causes of the abuses suffered by the women. Some quotes from
the interviews:
HREP has re-structured our whole working style and our approach to the women stay-
ing at the shelter … Beforehand the services at the Ankara shelters had no structure.
Women would come and it was haphazard. Now what we do is we sit down with the
woman and plan together with her what she will be doing from this point forward. We
don’t make decisions on her behalf as was done in the past and then expect them to
just do them. We gently push her to make her own decisions, to enable her to partici-
pate in society and in life. So we are like a driving force. (trainer from Ankara)
We have integrated a woman’s perspective into our work. We have become more sensi-
tive to women’s problems such as violence, a lack of economic independence, honor
killings and judgments on women’s morality. (trainer from Kartal)
Some trainers related that in some cases, their colleagues had had some hesitations
about organizing HREP groups on site, for fear of possible resistance from some
members of the local community. But when no ‘rocks and stones’ were thrown at
the center, and when men involved in another program at the community center
related that their wives’ participation in the study groups had improved their family
relations with less fighting, colleagues were converted. A trainer from Trabzon said
in an interview: ‘HREP helps our community center to be functional.’
Some trainers also related that that sponsorship of HREP trainings had increased
the status of their community center and, in some cases, increased local demand for
and support of their services.
Table 7. Trainer behavior and actions – women’s activism.
Item
Not at all
(%)
A little
(%)
A lot
(%)
My participation in the HREP training program has …
Contributed to my becoming actively involved in an existing
women’s organization
40 38 22
Contributed to my becoming more involved in the women’s
movement in Turkey (for example, organizing seminars,
participating in petitions)
16 40 44
Contributed to my becoming more engaged with an existing
organization (not specifically associated with women’s
rights)
37 41 22
Resulted in my forming a new group or organization 69 19 12
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17. A principle of our community center is that all women personnel must have HREP
training. Currently of the 15 staff, nine have attended a HREP training and the rest are
attending one now. In the neighborhood, the community center has become an ‘expert’
on violence against women. The muhtars [elected village heads] in the area, the
schools, the health clinics … Whenever there is a case of violence or suspected
violence, they direct the women to the community center. It is HREP that has brought
this about. (trainer from Istanbul)
A trainer from Izmir felt that holding the HREP trainings in her center contributed a
sense of prestige and added recognition of the center within the local community. ‘It
makes the social service profession become better known in the community, which
is a good thing.’ A trainer from Antalya considered that the respectability of the cen-
ter had increased, along with the quality of services. An Ankara trainer felt that
offering the HREP trainings in her community center had helped the center to be
part of the women’s lives and a place where they come for guidance. In Kocaeli,
women who had attended HREP supported the community center by becoming
volunteers.
As Table 8 demonstrates, over 90% of the trainers indicated that their involve-
ment with HREP had increased the demand for the services of their organization,
resulted in increased collaborations with other organizations on issues of concern to
women, and increased the sensitivity of their organization in addressing women’s
issues.
Discussion and conclusion
The fields of HRE and social change theory are rarely linked in the literature. This
article focused on their connections by examining the long-term impacts on human
rights educators engaged in a non-formal adult training program sponsored by a
women’s human rights group in Turkey. This article extends the treatment of an
emerging question within social change theory – that of the long-term influence on
activists brought about by their very engagement in these activities. Because the
activists are trainers associated with a HREP that has operationalized feminism and
critical pedagogy, this case provides the opportunity to explore the implications of
such an approach on the ‘situated empowerment’ of trainers in both private and pub-
lic domains.
The results of the study demonstrate that facilitators in an HRE program orga-
nized by a Turkish women’s human rights group are themselves deeply influenced
by their engagement as trainers: in their identity; knowledge, skills, and attitudes;
Table 8. Impact on trainer organizations.
Item
Not at all
(%)
A little
(%)
A lot
(%)
My participation in the HREP training program has …
Resulted in greater sensitivity to women’s issues within the
work of my organization/agency
7 28 65
Resulted in increased demand for the services of my
organization/agency
7 46 48
Resulted in my organization/agency collaborating with other
organizations on issues of concern to women
9 43 48
16 F.L. Tibbitts
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18. and behaviors in their family and in the workplace. These impacts are demonstrated
not only in the private domain, but in the women’s professional roles, including
those with GDSS. The investigation of human rights, feminism, and social change
within the unique context of government workers operating as human rights trainers
thus broadens the spectrum of human rights and government to include ‘change
from within’ by activist workers.7
This study adds to the literature on social movement theory, as it shows the
potential for longitudinal research on the impacts of engagement on activists, using
human rights educators and trainers as an illustrative sub-group. Engagement in acti-
vist work both reflects and reinforces values and commitment to a cause and at the
same time can continue to be a transformative experience for the individual.
Specific to HRE and critical pedagogy, this study suggests the importance of
studying impacts on facilitators (in addition to learners) and the resulting influence
on their behavior outside of the HRE learning environment.
This article ultimately illustrates how fruitful it can be to bring together through
a situated case study what theory has, to some degree, artificially separated in
regards to human rights change, social change agendas, feminism, and critical peda-
gogy. Through the situated investigation of HREP within WWHR, we have the
opportunity to examine, and admire, how the opportunities and necessities of orga-
nizing for long-term change can generate effective transformative HRE practices.
Acknowledgments
I am indebted to Ebru Batik of WWHR for her efforts in inputting the survey data used in
this article and for facilitating the translation of open-ended questions. Amber Webb, Sandra
Sirota, and Spencer Dudley, graduate students at Teachers College of Columbia University at
the time this article was written, also provided helpful assistance in carrying out background
research on feminist critical pedagogy and empowerment theory, and offering insights into
links with HRE.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.
Notes
1. As of December 2013, adult literacy in Turkey was 94.1% for men and 92.2% for
women. Primary school attendance (2008–2012) was 90.8% for those living in rural
areas in contrast to 93.5% for those living in cities (UNICEF 2013).
2. A one-way ANOVA was performed in order to test if the differences between the means
for subcategories of participants were statistically significant. For the category of marital
status, only the following subcategories were included in the analyses: marital status
(never married, married) and for employer, only GDSS or NGO.
3. The results are presented for all trainers. In instances where the results for GDSS trainers
are statistically significantly different than those for other trainers, this is noted.
4. F = 6.87, p < .01.
5. The Directorate General on the Status of Women study (2009) showed that 42% of
Turkish women experienced physical or sexual violence in their lifetime inflicted by a
relative.
6. F = 4.26, p <.04.
7. ‘Femocrats’ is a term that has been coined for government workers forwarding the
agenda of women’s equality and human rights.
Journal of Peace Education 17
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19. Notes on contributor
Felisa L Tibbitts is an affiliated professor of the Institute for Reconciliation and Social Justice
at the University of the Free State (South Africa) and founder and senior advisor of Human
Rights Education Associates (HREA). Felisa L Tibbitts’ research interests are curriculum
policy and critical pedagogy related to education for democratic citizenship and human rights.
Recent publications include Tibbitts, F. (2015). Building a Human Rights Education
Movement in the United States. In Katz, S. and Spero, A.(Eds.), Bringing Human Rights
Education to U.S. Classrooms. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Tibbitts, F. and Totten, S.
(2012). Human Rights Education. In Pederson, J. and Totten, S. (Eds.) Educating About
Social Issues in the 20th and 21st Centuries. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing,
pp. 195-221.
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