Şenal Sarıhan (born 17 February 1948) is a Turkish attorney, feminist, and human rights activist. She won the

Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award The Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award, was created by the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial in 1984, now known as the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights to honour individuals around the world who have shown great courage and have made a significant contr ...

in 1997, sharing it with fellow attorney Sezgin Tanrıkulu. An award given each year to an individual whose courageous activism is at the heart of the human rights movement and in the spirit of Robert F. Kennedy's vision and legacy.

Biography

Originally a teacher, Sarıhan was active in the Turkish Teachers Association, joining its executive committee in 1967 and writing pro-union articles for its newspaper. She was sentenced to twenty-two years in prison for these writings in 1971, but was released following a 1974 change of government. After her release, she began work on a law degree, graduating in 1976. She specialized in human rights cases, defending activists and intellectuals. In 1980, she was again imprisoned for "espousing antistate views" in her newspaper writing, this time for thirty-five days. In 1986, she founded the Contemporary Lawyers Association, becoming its president. Ten years later, she founded the Contemporary Women's Association to protest for women's rights. In 1998, she led calls for the resignation of cabinet minister Işılay Saygın after Saygın defended the practice of

virginity testing A virginity test is the practice and process of determining whether a girl or woman is a virgin; i.e., to determine that she has never engaged in, or been subjected to, sexual intercourse. The test typically involves a check for the presence of an ...

in an interview. Sarıhan was an active opponent of several proposals of the Prime Minister

Tayyip Erdoğan Tayyip () is a Turkish given name for males. Tayyip may refer to: * Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (born 1954), Turkish politician, and Prime Minister of the Republic of Turkey from 2003 to 2014, and current President of Turkey since 2014 * Tayyip Talha ...

government, arguing that they were attacks on women's rights. She opposed an anti-adultery law in 2004, stating concern that it would primarily be used against women; In 2007, she led protests against his party, expressing fears that it would seek to institute

Sharia law Sharia (; ar, شريعة, sharīʿa ) is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition. It is derived from the Five Pillars of Islam, religious precepts of Islam and is based on the Islamic holy books, sacred scriptures o ...

. the plans were later dropped. The following year, she organized a rally of around 40,000 people to protest the lifting of a ban on

head scarves A headscarf is a scarf covering most or all of the top of a person's, usually women's, hair and head, leaving the face uncovered. A headscarf is formed of a triangular cloth or a square cloth folded into a triangle, with which the head is cov ...

in universities. She is a member of the

Republican People's Party The Republican People's Party ( tr, Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi, , acronymized as CHP ) is a Kemalist and social-democratic political party in Turkey which currently stands as the main opposition party. It is also the oldest political party ...

(CHP). She was removed from the CHP candidate lists for the

2018 Elections The following elections are scheduled to occur in 2018. The National Democratic Institute also maintains a calendar of elections around the world. Africa *2018 Djiboutian parliamentary election 23 February 2018 *2018 Sierra Leonean general elect ...

.http://www.cumhuriyet.com.tr/haber/siyaset/979389/CHP_de_kadin_aday_isyani.html

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sarihan, Senal Living people Prisoners and detainees of Turkey Turkish feminists Turkish human rights activists Turkish lawyers Turkish prisoners and detainees 1948 births Place of birth missing (living people) Members of the 25th Parliament of Turkey Members of the 26th Parliament of Turkey Republican People's Party (Turkey) politicians Istanbul University Faculty of Law alumni Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award laureates