Turkey’s Directorate on Religious Affairs, the Diyanet, last week posted some controversial guidance regarding women’s behaviour in an article about “Sexual Life”.

"Women have to be more careful, since they possess stimulants," and they "have to be covered properly so as not to show their ornaments and figures to strangers."
. . .
It added that if women have to communicate to the opposite sex they "should speak in a manner that will not arouse suspicion in one's heart and in such seriousness and dignity that they will not let the opposite party misunderstand them."

The advice, obviously based on Muslim attitudes toward women—indeed, “Our Prophet Muhammed” is cited as a moral authority—has angered Turks who want to maintain the country’s secularist constitution and polity.

[T]he Diyanet and its "Sexual Life" article have come under fierce criticism from Turkish secularists and feminist groups — particularly as it equates flirting and dating to adultery and puts the responsibility for such things entirely on women.

The article also raised the ire of many Turks by warning that men and women not married to each other should not be seen together; discouraging women from working in mixed-gender workplaces; and claiming that it is "immoral" behavior for women to wear perfume outside the home.

Yusuf Kanli, a columnist with the pro-secular "Turkish Daily News," says the Diyanet's stance on women s [sic] similar to the views of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan: "Putting on perfume is a sin. Flirting is an indecent attitude. A man and a woman's going out together or walking in the street together is a sin."

The “Sexual Life” article is seen by many as another sign that the government is set on raising the influence of Islam in Turkey's state and society.

Previous related posts: