TOCIKAD Bylaws
PREAMBLE: Article 1 – Name, Address and Head Office of the Association
Name: The name of this corporation is Gender and Women’s Studies Association., referred to as TOCIKAD.
Offices: Angora Evleri, Çeşmeli Cadde, Sancak Sokak, Blok B2, No:3, Beysukent-Ankara
TOCIKAD Head Office is located in Ankara. It has no other branches.
Article 2 – Purpose of the Association
Gender and Women’s Studies is an interdisciplinary field that has been developing on a global scale since the 1970s and aims to conduct scientific studies on this subject. The field of Gender and Women’s Studies has started to gain visibility with the rising number of master’s degree programs in universities and studies conducted in women’s research centers in Turkey since the beginning of the 1990s.
Currently, ten universities in Turkey (two of which offer doctoral programs only) offer master’s and doctoral programs on women’s studies, and the number of women’s research centers established at universities has exceeded 70. Some of the Master’s graduates continue their doctoral studies. Some graduates choose to work in related public organizations, local governments, and international organizations such as the United Nations, the World Bank, the International Labor Organization, and non-governmental organizations. Women’s Research Centers are active in conducting research at the universities where they are located, raising awareness about social and gender equality, and conducting studies that will contribute to the segments of society outside of universities.
These steps alone taken in the field of Gender and Women’s Studies in the last 25 years are of great significance, nevertheless, they don’t prove to be enough. The most prominent reason for the latter is that the relations that will enable academics and scientists working in this field to conduct efficient and effective studies between them are not at the desired level.
The purpose of the association is to carry out and encourage research, practice, training and publication activities in the field of Gender and Women’s Studies; to establish a network that will increase unity, professional solidarity, communication, information exchange, and interaction among people who engage in academic activities, manage scientific studies and have knowledge and experience, supporting interdisciplinary relations and cooperation along the way, and to increase the visibility of the field and to ensure that it becomes widespread and reinforced. The Association aims to be an application center for universities, public institutions, and non-governmental organizations in the field of Gender and Women’s Studies.
Article 3 – Subjects of Study, Forms of Study and Field of Activity
Activities include: Conducting and managing research, practice, educational, and publishing activities in the field of Gender and Women’s Studies;
Organizing national and international conferences, congresses, symposiums, and similar scientific activities for the people who do original academic studies in the field of Gender and Women’s Studies to share their knowledge and experience;
Organizing exclusive activities such as biennials and workshops in sub-fields within the scope of Gender and Women’s Studies;
Holding Regional University Meetings with the lecturers and students of the Gender and Women’s Studies graduate programs to discuss the related courses, theses, and practices and to strengthen the relations between these programs and women’s research centers in the process.
Supporting the work of young scientists, especially in their research and publication processes, pursuing an academic career in the field of Gender and Women’s Studies, and establishing a ‘Volunteer Academic Supporters Group’ to help carry out similar activities (as such);
Preparing and implementing training programs such as courses, seminars, summer schools, distance education, and computerized education that the members of the association will contribute with their knowledge; Developing and implementing certified training programs for demanding public and private sector organizations and non-governmental organizations;
Establishing and operating institutions related to education and training by obtaining the necessary legal permits;
Giving educational and research scholarships;
Creating a website in line with the objectives of the Association, targeting scientists working in the field to access all kinds of available information and to communicate quickly and efficiently. This website displays:
Activities carried out by the association,
A special data bank that includes top topics researched in the field of Gender And Women’s Studies, publications, lectures, theses, and alike.
Newsletters and digital info that will allow the announcement and spread of all kinds of national and international academic activities in the field.
This website also aims to prepare audio/visual recordings and documentary films about the historical development and current situation of the field of Gender and Women’s Studies in Turkey and to make them available to master’s and doctoral programs and related centers;
To encourage the further studies of Gender and Women’s Studies graduates and young academics at the start of their very careers by organizing award-winning competitions;
To obtain joint results with publishing houses and similar facilities established specifically to publish material relating to the field of gender and women or to prepare special book series in this field, to publish previous or current publications in the field, and to provide editorial support for this purpose;
To propose special issues to well-known and indexed journals in the field of social and human sciences that will contain current discussions on gender and women’s issues; to encourage the members of the association to participate in these issues with their studies;
To publish a scientific e-journal in which qualitative and/or quantitative academic studies containing theoretical / discursive discussions in the field of Gender and Women’s Studies will take place;
To create a documentation center covering all kinds of information, documents, and publications necessary regarding the realization of TOCIKAD’s mission;
To carry out magazine, book, and publishing initiatives alike in line with TOCIKAD’s mission;
To raise awareness of human rights, women’s rights, and children’s rights and to advocate for these very rights;
To take necessary action in line with TOCIKAD’s mission concerning the collection and preservation of all kinds of social and cultural materials about women; collecting and displaying information documents, materials about women’s labor in the given context,; to establish a Museum of the History of Women’s Labor by obtaining the necessary permissions in this direction;
To engage in international activities aimed at the purpose of the association; to become a member of private and public organizations with similar goals abroad and to do joint work with these organizations and / or to help;
If necessary, to carry out joint studies with public institutions and organizations, subject to the provisions of the Law No. 5072 on the Relations of Associations and Foundations with Public Institutions and Organizations;
To rent and / or purchase all kinds of real estate, securities and fixtures required by the objectives and activities of the Association;
To establish and operate economic and commercial enterprises in order to provide the revenues that will be needed for the realize the association’s objectives and activities;
To create platforms with the decision of the authorized bodies in order to realize a common goal with other associations or non-governmental organizations such as chambers, foundations, trade unions and similar in areas that are related to the purpose of the association and are not prohibited by law;
To establish a foundation, institute, federation or to join the established ones by obtaining the necessary permits in cases where it is deemed necessary for the realization of the purpose;
To establish facilities that associations can carry out with permission by complying with the legal requirements for the realization of the objectives;
To receive donations, grants and other types of support from national and international sources in order to realize the objectives and activities of the Association, in compliance with legal requirements;
To open representative offices for the purpose of carrying out the activities of the association where deemed necessary.
Field of Activity
TOCIKAD operates in the field of Gender and Women’s Studies in an academic and interdisciplinary context.
Article 4- Conditions and Forms of Membership and Exiting Membership
Article 5- Rights and Obligations of Members
Article 6- Organs of the Association
Article 7- Form of Establishment, Call and Meeting Procedure of the General Assembly
Article 8- Voting and Decision-Making Procedures and Forms of the General Assembly
Article 9- Duties and Powers of the General Assembly
Article 10- Formation, Duties and Powers of the Board of Directors
Article 11- Composition, Duties and Powers of the Supervisory Board
Article 12- Income Sources of the Association
Article 13- Income and Expenditure Transactions of the Association
Article 14- Borrowing Procedures of the Association
Article 15- Internal Audit of the Association
Article 16- Bookkeeping Principles and Procedures of the Association and Books to be Kept
Article 17- Regulation Amendment
Article 18- Opening a Representative Office
Article 19- Dissolution of the Association and Liquidation Procedures
Article 20- Lack of Provision