On Jan. 14, the Turkish parliament established an investigative commission called “Protecting the Integrity of Family,” with the purpose of investigating the causes of the skyrocketing divorce rates. The Republican People's Party (CHP) and Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), Turkey's left-leaning opposition parties, announced their disapproval. Since then the draft report of the commission, nicknamed Divorce Commission, has been making waves in the Turkish media and on the streets.

Following the report, Turkish women all over the country stood up against it in novel ways. In Antakya province, women wore white shrouds on May 26 to protest the report, while several college campuses joined in protests by women’s rights groups. Members of the group Mor Cati (Purple Roof) sent a “stigma certificate” to Justice and Development Party (AKP) parliamentarians on the commission. On Twitter, hundreds of critical tweets poured in under the hashtags #BosanmaKomisyonu (Divorce Commission) and #DevletTecavuzcuyleEvlendiriyor (State Forces Marriage with Rapists).

Although there are several serious social problems in Turkey, such as the skyrocketing number of women’s murders, increasing cases of pedophilia and widespread sexual violence, the AKP is convinced that divorce is a crucial issue that needs to be prioritized. Gulsum Kav, founder of the platform “We Will Stop the Murder of Women,” told Al-Monitor, “Given all the imminent matters it is not even justifiable to form a commission on divorce. Therefore these recommendations should not be taken into consideration for new legislation. We do not recognize this commission.”

In addition, it is difficult to pinpoint the overall goal of the report because some of its recommendations are contradictory. The 479-page-long draft report includes four main areas that are particularly alarming.