A panel titled "Women in Television Series" was organized in collaboration with the Women and Democracy Foundation (KADEM) Ankara and the International Media Information Association (UMED), hosted by the Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK).

Minister of Family and Social Services Mahinur Özdemir Göktaş also attended the opening of the panel.

At his opening speech, Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK) President Ebubekir Şahin said that they have been working intensively on ensuring the proper representation of women in the media, especially on eliminating scenes of violence in TV series.

Stating that they met with the producers of the TV series last week, with the participation of the Minister of Family and Social Services Göktaş, and shared their ideas, Şahin said that the scenes of violence against women were not the kind of images that the producers desired.

Şahin said: a colleague attended their meeting in Istanbul, known to all as both an actor and a producer, who said that scenes of violence against women should be viewed from a different perspective. This colleague stated that they use these scenes to draw attention to a social problem. However, there was a point where she was mistaken. Scenes of violence lead to normalization and the acceptance of inhumane treatment towards women in society. It creates an impression that perpetrating violence against women is normal. We got the impression that our producers would be more careful at the end of the day regarding this extremely dangerous situation, and we took their word for it.

"We should Truly Respect Our Women"

Emphasizing that, as RTÜK, they are against all forms of violence and that they do not tolerate violence against women, Ebubekir Şahin said, "There are productions containing violence among the series that we can correct under our supervision. We follow them. This struggle is not the work of our ministry, RTÜK, or NGOs alone. "It is a problem that can be overcome with all-out social awareness and consciousness." said."

Şahin stated that the Ministry of Family and Social Services carries out very intensive activities to keep women in high regard.

Thanking UMED and KADEM for their support on the issue, Şahin said, "We hope for TV series that will not only avoid the negative effects but also benefit from the constructive effects of series, contributing to the elimination of this fundamental problem through the societal consciousness that will be created. Let's truly respect our women, who are our crowning glory. Let's show positive discrimination towards women in TV series; let's glorify them. Let's showcase examples of successful, strong women in TV series. "I hope that there will be TV series where women are truly valued and that we can watch with our families."

“At the end of the day, evil and violence boost ratings”

KADEM President Saliha Okur Gümrükçüoğlu said that they are fighting violence against women against all kinds of situations that would disturb the existence of women as individuals and their position in social life.

Stating that the issue of women in the television series to be discussed in the panel is closely related to KADEM's field of work, Gümrükçüoğlu said, "Representations of women that disregard the dignity of women and examples of violence against women constitute the main theme of many series.

Because TV series have a very influential power in determining the acceptable roles of women, both in the family and in society. "Unfortunately, this power today serves a perception of women that is largely unfavorable to women."

Gümrükçüoğlu pointed out that they are faced with a world that often does not reflect reality but constructs new realities, stating that concepts such as motherhood, womanhood, and family are deformed and exaggerated in TV series.

Stating that the types of violence that form the backbone of almost every story are normalized, Saliha Okur Gümrükçüoğlu said:

 "The audience begins to take sides with the violence scenes they are exposed to and becomes involved in the series as individuals. In the last few years, a new female character has been created in TV series. Either a beautiful, always well-groomed, and rich woman, or a woman who is always oppressed, always submits to violence, a weak woman. Women who stand on their own feet, free from societal norms, are portrayed as characters who cannot balance between being a mother and working. At the end of the day, evil and violence boost ratings. Channels chase ratings. Ratings bring advertising and money. We are the ones who suffer the most in this cycle. We cannot sacrifice the family, women, and the societal structure to rating measurements. We must maintain a balance here."

Gümrükçüoğlu emphasized the importance of visible good role models in TV series for women and families, stating, "TV series that harm women and society could be removed from the rating measurement system. Again, principles can be determined that everyone, including the producer, the scriptwriter and the advertiser, must accept. Just as substances such as alcohol and cigarettes are not shown on the screen, scenes of violence against women and children should also be removed from TV series, and this should be accepted as a principled stance, not an RTÜK sanction," she said.