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Advocacy and Capacity Building Activities

What is it?

These are communication and advocacy efforts aimed at strengthening the capacity of the public, civil society, private sector, and governmental institutions to ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive rights and the realization of gender equality for all individuals and social groups.

Purpose

Through social media and press initiatives, these efforts aim to raise public awareness of sexual and reproductive rights. In doing so, they contribute to enabling individuals to access accurate information and feel empowered to seek relevant services.

We also organize meetings, produce research reports, and generate knowledge to strengthen dialogue between institutions and disciplines under the umbrella of sexual and reproductive health, fostering holistic, solution-oriented approaches. To disseminate the knowledge we co-create using participatory methods, we develop sustainable tools and models.

With a perspective that sees populations not merely as statistics but as people, we aim to ensure that the sexual and reproductive health rights of all individuals are recognized within the framework of sustainable development. In addition to promoting these rights—enshrined in international agreements supported by Türkiye—on the national development agenda, we also take an active role in monitoring mechanisms.

Core Activities

Local Governments and Supporting Women's Health

Support and counseling services for women, along with awareness-raising initiatives to promote equality, are gaining increasing importance within the priorities and services of municipalities. To mobilize this potential, protect and improve women’s health, and integrate this field with women’s well-being, fundamental rights, and equality efforts, we work in partnership with UNFPA Türkiye to inform local governments about women’s services in areas such as preventive women’s health, family planning, and maternal and child health.

Our efforts include:

  • Preparing informative publications for municipalities,

  • Offering consultancy and capacity-building support to municipalities that aim to provide services in women’s health, sexual and reproductive health from a preventive healthcare perspective.

Comprehensive Sexuality Education Advocacy Work

In partnership with the TAP Foundation and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Türkiye Office, we emphasize the importance of Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) to support the well-being of adolescents and youth in our country. We work to empower school psychological counselors, teachers, and parents to ensure access to information as a fundamental right.

Every day, adolescents and young people are exposed to a range of conflicting and confusing messages about sexuality and gender. We believe that comprehensive, quality, curriculum-based sexuality education programs can help all children and youth navigate these messages and develop responsible citizenship along with healthy attitudes about themselves, their relationships, and their well-being.

TAP Foundation’s CSE Advocacy Work Includes:

CSE Learning Outcomes in Curricula: An Analysis of School Curricula and Textbooks from Primary to High School in the Context of Age-Appropriate Comprehensive Sexuality Education

In collaboration with the UNFPA Türkiye Office, this curriculum research was conducted in 2021 under the leadership of Prof. Dr. Fatma Bıkmaz, with Assoc. Prof. Dr. Canay Demirhan İşcan, Dr. Ece Koçer, and Dr. Metin Kartal. The study aimed to identify the areas needed in age-appropriate sexuality education by analyzing teaching programs and textbooks.

The analysis was based on the key concepts and learning objectives outlined in the 2018 revised version of the UNESCO International Technical Guidance on Sexuality Education, and it covered four different age groups, from pre-school to high school.

CSE Advocacy Policy Document

The CSE Policy Document was developed through working meetings with psychological counselors, guidance specialists, academics, and civil society organizations.

CSE Awareness and Dissemination Activities

We prioritize increasing awareness and mainstreaming CSE’s scope and outcomes, especially among psychological counselors and parents, as well as all institutions, civil society organizations, and individuals working with children and young people.

Sexual Health Reproductive Health and Rights Platform

The Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights Platform (CİSÜ) acknowledges that sexual and reproductive rights are fundamental human rights, and aims to facilitate collaborative advocacy efforts among civil society organizations, academic institutions, professional bodies, and scholars working to ensure non-discriminatory access to these rights and services.

Operating under the name Cairo +20 and Sustainable Development Goals Platform between 2013 and 2018, the platform was reactivated in 2020 as part of the “Strengthening the Platform on Reproductive Rights and Health in Türkiye” project. This initiative was supported by the European Union Delegation to Türkiye and the Civil Society Networks and Platforms Support Program.

Now continuing its work under the name CİSÜ Platform, with the participation of new civil society organizations, the platform brings together NGOs and civil initiatives engaged in advocacy for SRHR (sexual and reproductive health and rights) across a range of fields, including the right to health, women’s rights, gender equality, sexually transmitted infections, youth, disability, and migration.

Strengthening Health Services in the Fight Against Violence Against Women

Violence against women has serious consequences for women’s physical, sexual, reproductive, mental, and behavioral health, which can lead to disability or even death. The World Health Organization (WHO) warns about the health impacts of violence against women and emphasizes its long-term effects.

Healthcare services are among the primary areas where women experiencing or at risk of violence seek support. The CEDAW General Recommendation No. 33 highlights the critical role of healthcare professionals in cases of violence against women. Health workers can identify whether women have been subjected to male violence and refer them to specialized social service units.

We conduct advocacy efforts to eliminate barriers to the availability, accessibility, and quality of healthcare—one of the essential services in combating violence against women—and to ultimately help end violence. As part of these efforts, we focus on:

  • Raising awareness among professional and volunteer social service providers about the health dimensions of violence against women and improving their understanding of health service mechanisms,

  • Increasing women’s awareness of the health consequences of violence and improving their access to health support services,

  • Enhancing health workers’ awareness of violence against women and promoting a woman-centered approach in health service delivery,

  • Strengthening inter-institutional cooperation to improve the quality and coordination of healthcare services for women subjected to violence.

The latest study conducted in Turkey in 2014 on the prevalence of violence against women shows that 38% of married women reported having been subjected to physical and/or sexual violence by their husbands or partners at some point in their lives. A quarter of these women reported being injured as a result of the violence.
The report also shows how violence against women generally affects women’s health. According to the report, the percentage of women who describe their health as ‘poor or very poor’ among women who have experienced violence is twice as high as among women who have not experienced violence. One-third of women who have experienced physical and/or sexual violence report having considered suicide at some point in their lives, compared to one-tenth of women who have not experienced violence. Similarly, suicide attempts are five times more common among women who experience violence than among women who do not. There are numerous academic studies showing the serious health consequences of violence against women. Violence against women is not only a public health issue but also a human rights violation.

Source: Hacettepe University Institute of Population Studies. Report on Domestic Violence Against Women in Turkey. Ankara; 2014.

Advocacy for Safe Sex and Prevention of the HIV Epidemic

Research in Türkiye reveals that certain groups—particularly youth, women in disadvantaged positions, migrants, people with disabilities, and LGBTI+ individuals—face greater challenges in accessing sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) services. When school curricula are analyzed and compared with international standards, it is found that only 1 out of 5 core learning objectives of Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) is fully addressed.[¹]

Topics such as gender, sexuality, sexual behavior, sexual and reproductive health, and age-appropriate information are scarcely included in school programs. Critical topics like safe sexual practices, methods of contraception, sexually transmitted infections (STIs), HIV testing, and treatment are completely absent.

The onset of sexual activity without knowledge of safe sexuality contributes to a concerning trend: while HIV rates are declining globally, in Türkiye, the prevalence of HIV is increasing, and the age of infection is decreasing.

Safe sexuality refers to engaging in sexual activity free from unwanted pregnancies and STIs, without coercion, violence, or discrimination, and without emotional or social harm. Viewed this way, a safe sexual life—an integral part of the human life cycle—plays a critical role in protecting public health, reducing pressure on healthcare systems, and ensuring social peace by preventing violence.

As part of our advocacy efforts for safe sexuality and HIV epidemic prevention, we work to:

  • Ensure access to scientifically accurate sexual health information for youth and other key populations,

  • Promote the expansion of Voluntary Counseling and Testing (VCT) centers and other HIV diagnostic services,

  • Advocate for inclusive service delivery grounded in a “leave no one behind” approach.

[1] https://cisuplatform.org.tr/6-il-ozelinde-cinsel-saglik-ve-ureme-sagligi-csus-hizmetleri-arastirma-raporu/

https://cisuplatform.org.tr/cisu-rapor-tasarimi-dijital-2021/

[2] https://www.unfpa.org/sites/default/files/pub-pdf/ITGSE.pdf

[3]https://www.tapv.org.tr/portfolio/okul-oncesinden-ortaogretime-ogretim-programlarinin-ve-ders-kitaplarinin-kapsamli-cinsel-saglik-egitimi-baglaminda-analizi/

[4] https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/download/article-file/3163043

Gender Equality Capacity Building Activities

With our Gender Equality Capacity Support Projects, we aim to make visible the effects of gender roles on daily life, education, health, working life, service provision, rights and access to information, and to contribute to the transformation of individuals and institutions for social transformation, in order to achieve an equitable and sustainable development process.

In this context, we carry out activities that promote gender equality, such as gender awareness initiatives in the private sector, projects that support women’s participation in the workforce, awareness and training initiatives to create gender-sensitive language in the provision of health services, and projects in vocational high schools that promote the idea that there is no gender in professions. To ensure the sustainability of our work, we prioritise transforming it into accessible information resources. You can explore the TAP Foundation Academy for our digital educational content.