Canan Güllü (born 1962) is a Turkish activist who is the President of the Federation of Women Associations of Turkey (TKDF). She was awarded the

International Women of Courage Award The International Women of Courage Award, also referred to as the U.S. Secretary of State's International Women of Courage Award, is an American award presented annually by the United States Department of State to women around the world who have ...

in 2021.

Life

Canan Gullu has been an activist and organizer since the 1980s when she began working with her mother at the age of nine. She became the president of the Federation of Women Associations of Turkey (TKDF). As a result of the organisations that are affiliated to that organization there are 186 branches and over 50,000 members. The organisation was formed in 1976 with originally five organisations. The organisation has been operating a help line since 2007. The Istanbul Convention on Domestic Violence was framed on 11 May 2011. Gullu notes that Turkey was the first country to sign it, however Turkey's police have neither the staff or the training to implement it. She mentions hundreds who are killed in domestic violence and a huge increase in cases, but Gullu notes that this is difficult argue and to measure as Turkey fails to gather the necessary data. In fact Turkey tried to withdraw from the convention and Gullu saw her role to be to oppose this political expediency. Turkey left the Istanbul convention (Council of Europe Convention, on preventing and combating violence against women) in March 2021. Her organisation did gather data on Femicide and the number of cases rose 341 in 2021 to 381 in 2022. Gullu noted that this was more than one woman a day.

Awards

She was awarded the

in 2021. She had been nominated by the American ambassador to Turkey in December. The award was presented by the

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Dr.

Jill Biden Jill Tracy Jacobs Biden (born June 3, 1951) is an American educator and the current first lady of the United States since 2021, as the wife of President Joe Biden. She was the second lady of the United States from 2009 to 2017 when her hus ...

and the Secretary of State

Antony Blinken Antony John Blinken (born April 16, 1962) is an American government official and diplomat serving as the 71st United States secretary of state since January 26, 2021. He previously served as deputy national security advisor from 2013 to 2015 and ...

International Women's Day International Women's Day (IWD) is a global holiday celebrated annually on March 8 as a focal point in the women's rights movement, bringing attention to issues such as gender equality, reproductive rights, and violence and abuse against wom ...

. She was identified as a "steadfast champion of gender equality, working to promote women's participation in governance, the labor force and education". There were fourteen living women given awards that year. The awardees were from fifteen countries as unusually the awards included an extra seven women who had died in Afghanistan.

Publications include

* Syrian Refugee Women and Girls In Turkey & The Istanbul Convention (2019)

Awards

* 2016 – Health and Social Aid Foundation (SSYV) Outstanding Manager Award * 2018 – Atatürk Outstanding Woman Service Award * 2020 – Canadian Embassy in Turkey Human Rights award * 2020 – International Knidos Academy of Culture and Art (UKKSA) Lifetime Honorary Award * 2020 – Turkish University Women "Leading Woman Award" * 2021 – International Women of Courage Award * ÇESAV Gold Medal

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Güllü, Canan 1962 births Living people Turkish activists Recipients of the International Women of Courage Award