H. Ümit Sayin, Asiye Kocatürk and Irmak Dedecan

Sexual Behavior of Turkish Women
and Women’s Rights in Turkey

ASEHERT-CİSEATED, İstanbul University and MEDIPOL University

www.ciseated.org, www.cinselegitim.org, www.sexusjournal.com

 

Introduction

History

The Turkish Republic, established on the remains of Ottoman Empire in 1923, is one of the few secular Islamic countries in the world. Ninety-nine percent of the population is said to be Muslim — although the definition of "being Muslim" in Turkey makes it unlikely that all of these Muslims practice orthodox Islam, Islamic rules and pray 5 times a day. In most of the other Islamic countries, Sharia, Allah's Law for Muslims, dominates the constitution and the legal system, so that the state and the main legal system is NOT separated from the orders of the Qur’an. In contrast with the constitutions in many other Islamic states, the Turkish Constitution forbids the religious laws from dominating government and society and requires that the state and religion be separated (Article 2, Turkish Constitution [revised in 1982]). Latest “CIA Fact-Book” information claims that nearly 4 % of the population is atheist; while our estimation is nearly 35 to 40 % of the population do NOT practice orthodox Islam; among these people none-religious attitudes and atheismhas been spreading and growing as a result of the reaction and protest against religious governments during the last 20 years.

The Turkish Republic was founded in 1923 after the fall of the Ottoman Empire and a period of civil war, a war of independence, revolution and reformation led by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, who became Turkey's first president. When the new republic was formed, the government took many precautions to prevent Islam from being as influential in governance as it was during Ottoman times. Among these reforms were replacing the Arabic alphabet with the Roman alphabet, which is more suited to expressing the Turkish language; granting equal rights to women; and reforming education, including the elimination of compulsory religion courses. Prayers once recited only in Arabic were translated into Turkish, so that everyone could understand them; religious education based in extremist sectarian centers called Tekkes, Tariqas, and Zaviyes was banned; and a new legal system based on a European model was adopted. In 10 years (1923-1933), a new modern Western country, with a new identity and ideology, was quickly created from an oriental empire. There was a clear-cut shift in the whole state precept, including secularism[1].

When Atatürk died in 1938, there were still many other reforms of governmental and cultural affairs waiting to be completed. After 1950, the Enlightenment-based ideals and reforms of the revolution started to decline. Right-wing and conservative cliques and political parties were ready to exploit the weaknesses of the inexperienced government. Some of the social changes and civil rights attained by the revolution in 1923 were lost. Some politicians appealed to the uneducated and illiterate majority of Turks, who were still very religious and strongly influenced by local religious authorities (Sheiks and Mullahs), who promised a return to the good old Ottoman days and religion governed society (and/or Sharia). This turmoil continued until the military coup in 1960, which supported secularism and Kemalist Revolution. A new constitution based on a Western legal system was approved in 1961, which banned efforts to support the establishment of a non-secular religious state based on Sharia Law. However, after the NATO-USA supported military coup in 1980, the main developments which kindled the counter revolution and the decline of the democracy and secularism accelerated, and reached to a peak during the last 13 years (2002-2015), a period during which more than 20 articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights were sometimes violated.

Neither the sexual behaviors of pre-modern Turkish women (or Ottoman women), nor that of modern Turkish women have ever been investigated using scientific methods with proper references. Articles or other writings about the sexual life styles of Turkish women are very scarce. During Ottoman times, women had no basic rights, but were enslaved by their husbands or other men in the society. A man could get married to four women and easily divorce any of them by saying one sentence as “I, hereby, in the name of Islam, divorce you”, without leaving her any rights so she would find herself in the street by herself. In fact, before Islam (during the Shamanic days), women in Turkish countries or various clans were more equal to men. Very old Turkish writings state that the Hakan (governer) had to get married to only one woman, and the wife of the Hakan had words and rights in governing the country (as in Huns, Gokturks, Uygurs etc.). Ancient Turkish cultures in Anatolia and in Middle Asia, before 800-900 A.D., always respected women and emphasized the importance of women for centuries. Ancient Turkish cultures gave equal rights to both women and men. An example or trace of this fact can be found as Anatolian Goddess and fertility sculptures or figures on the reliefs in the old Anatolian civilization museums.

About the sexual behavior of Ottoman women very little is known; most probably it was not more than pleasing their husbands. After the Kemalist Revolution in 1923, legally and socially, women gained many rights and became equal to men. Today, legally and in the courts women still have equal rights with men; however, in social life, there is evidence that Turkish Society is being transformed to the Ottoman days lately, during the last 20 years.

Sexuality Surveys on Women in Turkey

Although, in Turkey, the winds of the sexual revolution in Europe and America had their trivial influences, no actual sexual revolution occurred. Before our own investigations, no basic and rigorous surveys on sexual behavior on Turkish females were ever conducted in Turkey, nothing like like Kinsey Reports, the Hite Report or the Cosmo Report. We have investigated the sexual life styles and orgasmic patterns of Turkish women since 1991 and our novel “İstanbul Report” study, started in 2013, is still continuing[2].

As a result of social and cultural repression and taboos, Turkish women do not experience the sexual freedom and sexual satisfaction as the women in Europe. However, the secular and educated portion of Turkish women has had a kind of reform or sexual revolution in their own sexual life styles. For instance from 1960’s to 1980’s the virginity issue was not considered an important taboo among the urban educated women for a couple of decades, while after the year 2002, the demand for virginity increased in the whole society. The importance of not being deflorated until marriage was not so important among the educated and secular women 20-30 years ago; so the women in 1980’s and 1990’s were having pre-marital sexual experiences, pre-marital sex and intercourse with their partners. However, the ratio of experiencing sexual intercourse, having sexual encounters and pre-marital sexual experience decreased during last 10-15 years. As a consequence of this decline, some sexual function disorders (SFD), such as the cases of lack of sexual interest, Vaginismus and Anorgasmia, increased. This was partially because of the lack of pre-marital sexual experience and partly because of the myths and fears created in the minds of women by the education system and the society. According to our 25 years of experience on investigating the sexuality of Turkish women we can divide the Turkish women into five different categories in terms of their sexual behavior and orgasmic patterns (the groups depict the current status of women in Turkey):

 

1)      GROUP-1: Very liberated, educated and European-type of women: These women have their own lives and sexual life patterns. They are economically independent. They are secular and they do not practice orthodox Islam. Even some of these women can experience ESR (Expanded Sexual Response). They experience premarital sex. They don’t give any value to virginity during marriage.They have a very liberated way of living and sexual life styles (crudely, 15-20 % of the women population). This group is unlikely to suffer from vaginismus and orgasmia, lack of sexual interest; they may have a contented sexual life. Most of them live in large cities and regions like İstanbul, İzmir, Bodrum and Eagean coast.

 

2)      GROUP-2: Liberated, educated European-type of women who have some dogmas and limitations: These women are also independent and they have their own independent lives, they may or may not experience pre-marital sex. They are secular and they do not practice orthodox Islam, but have some beliefs. They don’t give any value to virginity during marriage. Most of them are not virgins when they get married. They have some limited ways of liberated sexual life styles (crudely, 18-25 % of the women population). Some of these women may suffer from SFD, but the ratio of SFD is low. They live in big cities, but some also live in small cities and at rural areas.

 

3)      GROUP-3: Unliberated educated women with dogmas who are inhibited:These women are economically independent. Some of them are secular, but most of them are not! They may have some pre-marital sexual experience, but most of them stay as virgins until marriage; some of them may be deflorated during those sexual encounters. They may favor virginity, but some don’t. This group may suffer from vaginismus and anorgasmia to some degree. They may be religious, very religious or none-religious. Some of these women may suffer from SFD, but the ratio of SFD is higher than the former two groups. This group constitutes crudely, 20-25 % of the women population. They may either live in big cities or small towns and rural areas.

 

4)      GROUP-4: Unliberated, uneducated women with strict dogmas who are very inhibited: These women are not economically independent; they are dependent on their families and their husbands. They are not well educated. Most of them are not secular. They never have pre-marital sexual affairs, they recognize sexuality and orgasms when they get married. They favor virginity and stay as virgins until marriage. This group may suffer from vaginismus and anorgasmia to some degree. They are generally very religious.Some of these women may suffer from SFD, but the ratio of SFD is higher than the first two groups.

 

5)      GROUP-5: Unliberated, educated or uneducated women who suffer SFD’s most of the time (the SFD women): Most of them are not economically independent. They may come from the groups of educated or uneducated. They have very strict dogmas and inhibitions. Very few of them have pre-marital sex. They favor virginity. Most of them are not secular. Most of them are very religious and practice orthodox Islam. They are most of the time virgins when they get married. They both live in big cities and rural areas. This group disproportionally suffers from SFD. Group-4 and Group-5 together constitute nearly the 2/5 of the female society (crudely, 38-45 % of the female population).

For an explanation of ESR (Expanded Sexual Response) is, we quote the definition of ESR from some recent articles[3]:

“being able to attain long lasting and/or prolonged and/or multiple and/or sustained orgasms and/or status orgasmus that lasted longer and more intense than the classical orgasm patterns defined in the literature”

Among women world-wide, the ESR women are less than 10-15 % of the whole female population (our global survey results); in Turkey ESR women are predicted to be less than 5-7 % of the female population.

Some of the characteristics of ESR women were:

1)        The ESR women experienced vaginal, clitoral and blended orgasms, as described by Ladas et al.

2)        The ESR women experienced multiple orgasms in most of their sexual activities.

3)        The ESR women were able to attain long lasting and/or prolonged and/or multiple and/or sustained orgasms and/or status orgasmus that lasted longer than the classical single orgasm and/or multiple orgasm patterns defined in the literature.

4)        The ESR women claimed to have strong pelvic floor muscles (PFM) compared to NESR (non-ESR) women.

5)        The libido of ESR women was very high compared to NESR women.

6)        ESR women described a phenomenon called G-Spot orgasms.

7)        ESR women described sensitive erogenous zones in their genitalia other than clitoris.

8)        ESR women masturbated more frequently compared to NESR women.

9)        ESR women had erotic fantasies more frequently than the NESR women.

10)    ESR women admitted to have a form of altered states of consciousness during some of their prolonged orgasms and/or status orgasm

11)    ESR women admitted to have a form of altered states of consciousness during some of their prolonged orgasms and/or status orgasm

12)    ESR women admitted to have a form of altered states of consciousness during some of their prolonged orgasms and/or status orgasm

13)    ESR women admitted to have a form of altered states of consciousness during some of their prolonged orgasms and/or status orgasm

 

Some Striking Results of Our Surveys During the Last 24 Years

The most striking result coming out of these surveys were about the orgasmic patterns and orgasmic behavior of Turkish women. Most of the Turkish women were familiar with clitoral orgasms, learned during early ages. However, the average ratio of vaginal orgasms in Turkish woman (coital orgasms) was only 16 to 19 % (average of Kadinca Report-1993 and Hülya Report-2003), compared to 30 % (Hite Report) and 34 % (Cosmo Report) among the American women[4]. The reasons of this result could be explained by the different combinations of the following facts:

1)      The lack of numerous partners and of experience variety of Turkish women. Most the Turkish women had one or a couple of sexual partners in their whole lives.

2)      The lack of pre-marital sexual experience of Turkish women.

3)      The lack of information and education of Turkish females on sexuality and sexual physiology of women.

4)      The lack of information and education of Turkish males on sexuality, female orgasm and sexual physiology.

5)      The lack of vibrator use in the Turkish population.

6)      The short duration of sexual intercourse of Turkish males, which generally lasted less than 2 to 5 minutes.

7)      The taboos, inhibitions and sexual myths that the Turkish women had in their minds.

8)      The taboos, inhibitions, fears, guilt, and shame created by the transformed education system at the high schools and universities.

9)      Other.

We quote some tables from Kadınca Report (1993) and Hülya Report (2003). Some preliminary parts of the İstanbul Report among Female University Students (age 17-25) are also added.

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References

 

1. Ümit Sayin, AykutKence.Islamic Scientific Creationism: A New Challenge in Turkey. Reports of National Center for Science Education (RNCSE). 19 (6): 18-20. 1999.

 

2. Ümit Sayın. Different Dimensions of Sexuality: Deep Sex. Second edition, two volumes. İstanbul: Tantra Akademi/Onur Publications, 2014.  Kadınca Report (1993) and Hülya Report (2003)  were realized by Dr. Umit Sayin. İstanbul Report (2013-2014, still continuing) was conducted by Dr. Umit Sayin, Dr. AsiyeKocatürk and partially by Irmak Dedecan.

 

3. Ümit Sayin.Doors of female orgasmic consciousness: New theories on the peak experience and mechanisms of female orgasm and expanded sexual response. (Research and Review) NeuroQuantology, 10 (4): 692-714, 2012.  ●   Ümit Sayin and AsiyeKocatürk .Expanded sexual response in the human female: The mechanisms of expanded orgasms in women (Review). Proceedings of NACS-2012-Helsinki Conference, Helsinki-Finland (4-7 October, 2012) Proceedings Book 2012; pp:147-163, 2012.● Ümit Sayin.Altered states of consciousness occurring during expanded sexual response in the human female: preliminary definitions.  (Review) NeuroQuantology;  9(4): 882-891, 2011.

 

4. Shere Hite, Hite Report, (Turkish translation: KadınlarınCinselliğiKonusundaEnkapsamlıAraştırma, Çev: Esin Eden,) İstanbul:  Cep/CinsellikPublications, 1984.●  LindaWolfe, The Cosmo Report, London: Corgi Books, 1982.  ●  Kocatürk A, Sayın HÜ, Baş GY, Kocatürk C. Comparison of the Sexual Behavior of 939 Female Students in İstanbul Universities (2012) to the Survey Results of Kadınca Report (1993): Decline in Sexual Knowledge and Education in Turkish Universities?38th Annual Meeting of IASR (International Academy of Sex Research), Lisbon-Portual, July 8-11, 2012; Abtract Book, 38: 82, 2012.

 

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Question: To How many men have you made love with until now? (including the experiences without sexual intercourse)

Response	Percent % Kadınca R. (1993) N=1535	Percent % Hülya R. (2003) N=706	Estimated Average of Kadınca and Hülya Reports (% Percent) N= 2241
A) Never	3.6	5.5	4.5
B) Just once	28.5	32.4	30.5
C) Between 2-5	43.1	32.9	38
D) Between 6-10	15.3	14.6	15
E) More than 11	9.5	6.9	8.2

 

Question : How many minutes do your foreplays last with a man when you make love with him (average is asked)?

Response	Percent % Kadınca R. (1993) N=1535	Percent % Hülya R. (2003) N=706	Estimated Average of Kadınca and Hülya Reports (% Percent) N= 2241
A) Less than 5 minutes	4.7	10.7	7.7
B) 5-10 minutes	22.6	34.4	28.5
C) 10-20 minutes	35.7	32.6	34.2
D) 20-30 minutes	21.2	13.6	17.4
E) More than 30 minutes	14.8	8.7	11.8

 

Question : How many minutes do your sexual partners  maintain the intercourse (coitus) inside your vagina  during the sexual intercourse (based on your experiences, give an average number)

Response	Percent % Kadınca R. (1993) N=1535	Percent % Hülya R. (2003) N=706	Estimated Average of Kadınca and Hülya Reports (% Percent) N= 2241
A) I have not had intercourse	20.1	12.2	16.2
B) Less than 5 minutes	16.6	27.4	22
C) 5-15 minutes	43.2	34.1	38.7
D) 15-30 minutes	15.4	20.8	18.1
E) More than 30 minutes	4.0	5.5	4.8

 

 

Question: Which of the above enhances your sexual desires before sexuality (more than one answer)

Response (more than one)	Percent % Kadınca R. (1993) N=1535	Percent % Hülya R. (2003) N=706	Estimated Average of Kadınca and Hülya Reports (% Percent) N= 2241
A) Music	65.2	72.4	68.8
B) Nice food and drink	44.7	48.6	46.7
C) Good smell, scent, odor	57.9	62.9	60.4
D) Pornographic movie or books	62.3	71.2	66.8
E) Dirty Talk	82.9	84.5	83.7

 

Question : Which of the above do you sometimes apply when making love? (more than one response)

Response	Percent % Kadınca R. (1993) N=1535	Percent % Hülya R. (2003) N=706	Estimated Average of Kadınca and Hülya Reports (% Percent) N= 2241
A) Fellatio (oral sex of woman to man)	62.4	65.4	63.9
B) Cunnilingus (oral sex of man to woman)	58.6	47.6	53.1
C) Anal Sex	12.6	13.8	13.2
D) Wearing erotic lingerie and erotic underwear  that you find sexy	43.9	55.6	49.8
E) Sadomasochistic  soft variations such as being  tied up, tying up, biting, spanking, submissiveness or being controlled and/or control	5.6	7.8	6.7

 

Question :Do you have orgasms during sexual acts with your partners?

Response	Percent % Kadınca R. (1993) N=1535	Percent % Hülya R. (2003) N=706	Estimated Average of Kadınca and Hülya Reports (% Percent) N= 2241
A) Yes, I do attain orgasms during every intercourse or sexual act.	22.4	29	25.7
B) I attain orgasms during intercourse frequently (% 80 of all intercourses or sexual acts).	30.2	24	27.1
C) I sometimes have orgasms during intercourses (% 50 of all intercoursesor sexual acts).	19.2	19.7	19.5
D) I rarely have orgasms during intercourse (% 20 of all intercourses or sexual acts).	13.8	13	13.4
E) I never have orgasm (people with no sexual life shall also select this)	14.0	14.5	14.3

 

Question: Have you ever had multiple orgasms during one session of sexual act and/or  intercourse?

Response	Percent % Kadınca R. (1993) N=1535	Percent % Hülya R. (2003) N=706	Estimated Average of Kadınca and Hülya Reports (% Percent) N= 2241
A) No, I can only have one	37.9	38.6	38.3
B) I can have multiple orgasms up to five	25.0	32.1	28.6
C) I can have more than five multiple orgasms	4.1	4.2	4.2
D) I can have as many as multiple orgasms when stimulated properly	22.5	16.9	19.7
E) I cannot have any orgasms	10.5	8.2	9.4
Developing ESR potential by means of multiple orgasms	Corrected statistics in two groups		% 21

 

Question: What is the highest number of orgasms you have had during sexual act or session that lasts up to an hour ?( multiple choices)?

Response	Percent % Kadınca R. (1993) N=1535	Percent % Hülya R. (2003) N=706	Estimated Average of Kadınca and Hülya Reports (% Percent) N= 2241
A) 1	34.8	36.7	35.8
B) 2-5	53.9	41.9	47.9
C) 6-10	7.9	10.8	9.4
D) 11-20	2.1	3.1	2.6
E) More than 21	1.3	1.6	1.5
Possibility of experiencing ESR, blended orgasms or status orgasmus	3.4	4.7	4

 

For Hülya Report-What is the highest number of orgasms you had during sexual intercourse (for hours or over a night)?

Response	Percent % Kadınca R. (1993) N=1535	Percent % Hülya R. (2003) N=706	Estimated Average of KadıncaandHülya Reports (% Percent) N= 2241
A) 1	Not asked	21.1	21.1
B) 2-5	Not asked	39.2	39.2
C) 6-10	Not asked	15	15
D) 11-20	Not asked	5.2	5.2
E) 21-30	Not asked	3.7	3.7
F) 31-50	Not asked	1.3	1.3
Possibility of experiencing ESR, blended orgasms orstatus orgasmus		10.2	10.2

 

Question : Do the intensity and pleasure of your orgasms during sexual acts vary?

Response	Percent % Kadınca R. (1993) N=1535	Percent % Hülya R. (2003) N=706	Estimated Average of KadıncaandHülya Reports (% Percent) N= 2241
A)No, it is always the same	5.4	12.5	8.95
B) It varies frequently	22.9	29.7	26.3
C) It varies sometimes	49.7	37.8	43.8
D) It varies rarely	9.1	8.9	9
E) I am not sure or I cannot have an opinion about orgasm	12.8	11.1	11.95

 

Question : Can you have orgasm just by penetration of your partner’s penis into your vagina without any other stimulation?

Response	Percent % Kadınca R. (1993) N=1535	Percent % Hülya R. (2003) N=706	Estimated Average of KadıncaandHülya Reports (% Percent) N= 2241
A) Yes, I DO attain orgasm by coitus every time	12.9	25.2	19
B) Clitoral stimulation is required as well as penetration of the penis	48.4	41.7	45
C) I cannot have an orgasm by the penetration of penis, clitoral stimulation is required after or during  coitus	13.9	15.9	14.9
D) Other things are required for me to have an orgasm	18.3	13.9	16
The ratio of vaginal orgasm (orgasm by coitus) of educated and middle-class Turkish women (corrected statistics)	% 16-19 (Most of this group have also clitoral orgasms)
The ratio of only clitoral orgasm of educated and middle-class Turkish women (corrected statistics)	% 66
ANORGASMIA (not being able to have orgasm) of educated and middle-class Turkish women (corrected statistics)	% 15

 

Question : How often do you masturbate?

Response	Percent % Kadınca R. (1993) N=1535	Percent % Hülya R. (2003) N=706	Estimated Average of Kadınca and Hülya Reports (% Percent) N= 2241
A) I never do	9.2	36.8	23
B) I do it at least once a day	17.2	9.4	13.4
C) I only do it after sexual intercourse if I am not satisfied during  the sexual act	28.5	20.2	24.4
D) I do it 3-5 times a week	28.9	13.7	21.3
E) I do it at least 3-5 times a month	15.8	19.9	17.9

 

Question:Do you have sexual fantasies?

Response The ones with 17-25 of age from Kadınca and Hülya Reports were selected to be reanalyzed and frequencies were determined of only this group (SPSS)	Percent % Kadınca R. (1993) N=837 Age 17-25 only	Percent % Hülya R. (2003) N=239 Age 17-25 only	İstanbul Report (2013) Plot Group (Female students of 3 İstanbul Universities) N=939 Female university students at the age of 17-25
A)     No, none!	% 16.9	%18	% 47
B) Yes I have (other multiple choice answers  were reduced into one)	% 83	% 82	% 53

 

Question: During your sexual acts you experience with your partner, do you have orgasms during sexual act or intercourse?

Response The ones with 17-25 of age from Kadınca and Hülya Reports were selected to be reanalyzed and frequencies were determined of only this group (SPSS)	Percent % Kadınca R. (1993) N=837 Age 17-25 only	Percent % Hülya R. (2003) N=239 Age 17-25 only	İstanbul Report(2013) Plot Group (Female students of 3 İstanbul Universities) N=939 Female university students at the age of 17-25
A) Yes, I have orgasms during every sexual act.	20.7	22.6	5.1
B) I have orgasms during intercourse frequently (% 80 of all sexual acts).	28.1	25.9	14.8
C) I sometimes have orgasms during my intercourses (% 50 of all sexual acts).	19.6	18.8	16.4
D) I rarely have orgasms during sexual acts (% 20 of all sexual acts).	13.9	7.9	13.7
E) I never have an orgasm (people with no sexual encounterwill also select this choice)	13.7	24.7	49.8
Corrected average of option (E) “I never have orgasm” in Kadınca and Hülya reports N= 1076 (837 + 239)	% 16.2 Anorgasmia in1993 to 2003		% 49.8 Anorgasmia in 2014 (NOW)
While the ratio of teenage girls (between the age of 17-25) who cannot attain orgasms were 3 in 20 women by the early 2000s, this ratio has raised to 10 women in 20 women in 2013. ANORGASMIA ratio in Turkey has multiplied 3 times in the last 10 years.

 

Question : How old were you when you realized that your body was sexually aroused or when you masturbated?

Response	Percent % Kadınca R. (1993) N=1535	Percent % Hülya R. (2003) N=706	Estimated Average of Kadınca and Hülya Reports (% Percent) N= 2241
A) Younger than 7	9.2	12.8	11
B) Between 7-10	17.2	19.4	18.3
C) Between 11-14	28.5	24.8	26.7
D) Between 15-18	28.9	30.2	29.6
E) Older than 19	15.8	12.9	14.4
The ratio of pre-teen sexual arousal and masturbation before puberty (and possibly menstruation) of educated and middle-class Turkish women (corrected statistics)	% 32.6 One of three women experience sexual arousal and masturbation during childhood!

 

Question : How do you masturbate?

Response	Percent % Kadınca R. (1993) N=1535	Percent % Hülya R. (2003) N=706	Estimated Average of Kadınca and Hülya Reports (% Percent) N= 2241
A) I have not done such a thing and I find it immoral	14.9		14.9
B) I stimulate my clitoris manually	46.4		46.4
C) I stimulate my vagina or clitoris by my hand and a penis-like object	18.1		18.1
D) I stimulate my genitals by a vibrator	1.4		1.4
E) Other	13.8		13.8

 

Question :Do you have sexual fantasies? If yes, when do you fantasize? (multiple answers)

Response (more than one)	Percent % Kadınca R. (1993) N=1535	Percent % Hülya R. (2003) N=706	Estimated Average of Kadınca and Hülya Reports (% Percent) N= 2241
A) No, I have none	8.3	13.4	10.9
B) During intercourse with partner	23.6	23.4	23.5
C) During masturbation	49.3	41.1	45.2
D) In my dreams	25.2	17.5	21.4
E) At times when I am not sexually very active	9.5	12.3	10.9
The ratio of active  fantasizing of educated and middle-class Turkish women	91.7	86.6	Total (corrected statistics)
			% 90
The ratio of fantasizing was NINE of 10 women of educated and middle-class Turkish women since before 10 years. But this ratio has changed drastically in 2013!

 

Question: Which of the above fits the fantasy you have during self-satisfying (multiple answers)

Response	Percent % Kadınca R. (1993) N=1535	Percent % Hülya R. (2003) N=706		Estimated Average of Kadınca and Hülya Reports (% Percent) N= 2241
A) Making love with a partner or someone I knew	54.6	61.8		58.2
B) Making love with someone I have never met	32.6	33.7		33.2
C) Group sex or having sex with random people	12.4	15.7		14
D) Being raped, used as a sex object, being tied up, humiliated (being controlled)	13.8	17.8		15.8
E) Dominating one or a couple of men, tying them up, making them submissive and using as an object (to control)	6.7	8.4		7.6
F) Having lesbian intercourse	19.6	23.7		21.6
G) Thought of selling one’s body, prostitution	7.6	6.4		7
LESBIAN FANTASY of educated and middle-class Turkish women (corrected statistics)	24 % (multiple answers)		Minimum real ratio of women:
			19 %
FANTASY of soft BDSM and being dominated-dominating of educated and middle-class Turkish women (corrected statistics)	23 % (multiple answers)		Minimum real ratio of women:
			14 %

 

Question : Have you had lesbian affair or sexual act?

Response	Percent % Kadınca R. (1993) N=1535	Percent % Hülya R. (2003) N=706	Estimated Average of Kadınca and Hülya Reports (% Percent) N= 2241
A) No, I do not approve of such thing	67.5	68.6	68
B) No, but I have had sex with women in my fantasies	19.2	18.9	19
C) Yes I have had once, but not anymore	9.9	5.8	7.9
D) I have had sexual relations with 1-3 women, I would not say no if it were today	1.9	4.8	3.4
E) I have had relations with 1-3 women and I still continue having a lesbian affair	1.5	2.9	2.2
POTENTIAL OF LESBIANISM of educated and middle-class Turkish women	32% One in three women has the tendency of having a lesbian sexual encounter or act under proper conditions
Ones who have at least one lesbian relationship of educated and middle-class Turkish women	13.5% One in seven women have had sex with another woman

 

Question : How old were you during your first lesbian relationship?

Response	Percent % Kadınca R. (1993) N=1535	Percent % Hülya R. (2003) N=706	Estimated Average of Kadınca and Hülya Reports (% Percent) N= 2241
A) I have not had such relationship	84.0	85.2	84.6
B) Under the age of 15	9.6	4.2	6.9
C)Between the ages of 15-20	3.5	6.2	4.9
D) Between the ages of  20-25	1.5	2.8	2.2
E) Above 25 of age	1.4	1.6	1.5
Lesbian experience ratio of educated and middle-class Turkish women varies between 13-15%. 82% of the ones who have had lesbian relationship experience this act under the age of 20.

 

Question :Did you make love with more than one man at the same time?

Response	Percent % Kadınca R. (1993) N=1535	Percent % Hülya R. (2003) N=706	Estimated Average of Kadınca and Hülya Reports  (% Percent) N= 2241
A) No it does not suit me	73.5	NOr % 87.4	% 80.4
B) I did make love to 2 men at the same time	1.4	YES % 12.6	Percent of Group Sex   % 3.8
C)  I did make love to more than 2 men at the same time	1.3
D) I have made love to one man and a woman at the same time	1.1
E) I never did. But if I had found the opportunity I would do; I have fantasized about it	22.1		Fantasizing about group sex   % 22.1
The potential of having group sex in the educated and middle-class women (as a fantasy and experienced)	Esperienced:  3,8 Fantasy: 22,1 Potential 25.9 %	Experienced: 12,6 Fantasy: 15,7 Potential 28.3 %	Corrected Stats % 26.7
Between 1993 and 2003 ¼ of the educated and middle-class women had a potential of having group sex under suitable conditions (fantasy + experienced)

 

Question :Have you ever made love with an arbitrary person that you have just met randomly?

Response	Percent % Kadınca R. (1993) N=1535	Percent % Hülya R. (2003) N=706	Estimated Average of KadıncaandHülya Reports (% Percent) N= 2241
A) No, I find it wrong	59.9	62.9	61.4
B) No, but I would have made love with a person I have never met if I had the chance	17.6	15.3	16.5
C) I have made love with a random person 1-2 times, but did not enjoy it	10.1	7.8	8.9
D) I have done and enjoyed making love with 1-2 random people. I would do it again if I found the opportunity	9.6	11.5	10.6
E) I enjoy making love with random people and like one night stands and I keep doing it.	2.5	2.8	2.7
Random partner changing (one-night-stand) potential of educated and middle-class Turkish women (corrected statistics)	29.7% Approximately one in three women has a potential of random or one-night stand or  sexual experience between 1993 to 2003

 

Soru 56: Have you had a sadomasochistic, fetishistic or out of known and unaccustomed sexual encounter in which you were dominant or submissive?

Response	Percent % Kadınca R. (1993) N=1535	Percent % Hülya R. (2003) N=706		Estimated Average of KadıncaandHülya Reports (% Percent) N= 2241
A) No, I have not done and I am against to such things	79.7	67.2		73.5
B) No, I have not done;  but  I usually have had  the fantasies of such sexual acts	14.1	17.5		15.8
C) Yes, I have done not anymore	1.5	9.3		5.4
D) Yes, I have done and I still do	1.2	5		3.1
E)  I had other different  sexual acts	2.5	1.1		1.8
Paraphilia potential of educated and middle-class Turkish women	Fantasy Level		Practice Level		Total Potential
	Approximately 14% to 15,8 %		10.3%		26.1%
Approximately ONE IN FOUR WOMEN of educated and middle-class Turkish women enjoy soft BDSM, sexual behavior or fantasies containing violence and roughness.

 

Questions 57: Which behavior have you encountered until now (more than one answer)?

Response	Percent % Kadınca R. (1993) N=1535	Percent % Hülya R. (2003) N=706	Estimated Average of KadıncaandHülya Reports (% Percent) N= 2241
A) Molestation in the way of touching the body by hand	67.9	64.4	66.2
B) Sexual assault that has not resulted in sexual intercourse or rape	27.6	13.2	20.4
C) Rape resulted with sexual intercourse by a stranger	6.3	3.2	4.8
D) Rape resulted with sexual intercourse by married spouse or a close  friend	9.6	5.2	7.4
E) One sexual harassment incidence during childhood	Not Asked	5.4	5.4
F) I have never suffered of something like this	15.7	30.1
Approximately 5.4% of educated and middle-class Turkish women had experienced sexual harassment during childhood. Namely, one of 20 women had experienced sexual harassment!
Approximately 4.8% of educated and middle-class Turkish women had experienced rape resulting in sexual intercourse by a stranger.
Approximately %7.4 of educated and middle-class Turkish women had experienced rape resulting in sexual intercourse by a lover, married spouse or a friend.
In total, approximately %12,2 percent of educated and middle-class Turkish women; namely, ONE IN EIGHT WOMEN, had experienced rape (resulting in sexual intercourse).

 

Conclusions 
Turkish society has been transformed into a conservative and religious society from a secular and liberated society during the last 25-30 years. Some of the striking results of this transformation is depicted in the plots given below. The education about sexuality and sex therapy in Turkey is also depicted in the table  below preceding the plots. Sexuality education is very essential and crucial to the Turkish Health Professionals and also to the public because of the lack of healthy and proper, scientific sexual education. As a consequence of the present status, sexual freedom, sexual happiness, sexual satisfaction and sexual health is declining every decade becoming worse and worse, while sexual problems and sexual disorders are exploding everyday.

	Whether the subjects related with sexology, human sexuality and sex therapy is taught or in the education system
Education System	Basic male and female sexual anatomy	Basic male and female sexual physiology	The Definition of Sexual Disorders	The Definition and Details  of Female/Male  Orgasm	How to enhance sexual pleasure	Subjects like masturbation, fantasy, oral sex etc.	The basics of sex therapy	Structured sex therapy education	Accredited sex therapy education
High schools	NONE	NONE	NONE	NONE	NONE	NONE	NONE	NONE	NONE
Universities	NONE	NONE	NONE	NONE	NONE	NONE	NONE	NONE	NONE
Medical schools	YES	In some medical schools	Only in psychiatry lessons at 5.year	Only in very few schools	NONE	NONE	NONE	NONE	NONE
Psychology Faculties	Partially in first or second year	Partially but no structured  course	YES	YES but partially no structured course	NONE	YES but in very few universities. NO structured course, mentioned in the lessons	NONE Only some basic definitions	NONE	NONE
Psychiatry education after medical school	YES, but NO structured and systematic education	YES, but NO  sources and NO systematic-structured education	YES	YES	NONE	YES but partially	NONE	NONE	NONE
Other private Associations or private courses	Partially	Partially	Partially	None Generally wrong and no true and  realistic information is given	NONE	NONE Wrong and non-scientific information is taught, such as vaginal orgasm does not exist	Partially	Partially, and ambiguous, the teachers are not trained either	NONE
Graduate Programs	YES	YES, but in very few of them partially	Yes but in some, such as psychology	Partially	NONE	NONE, even some professors evaluate these issues as perversion	There are no graduate educations in sex therapy	NONE	NONE
Postdoctoral programs and education systems	NONE	NONE	NONE	NONE	NONE	NONE	NONE	NONE	NONE

 

 

 

 

HYMENOPLASTY SURGICAL OPERATIONS: Since the importance given on virginity has increased during the last decades, Hymenoplasty operations, which involves sewing the hymen during a surgery session has increased in Turkey lately. Some women are said to have a couple of hymenoplasty operations to present themselves as VIRGINS to the men they get married to. The demand of males to getting married to a VIRGIN GIRL and to deflorate their wives increased during the last 30 years, because of the religious and conservative transformation of the Turkish society.

WOMEN RIGHTS IN TURKEY

ASEHERT-CISEATED (www.ciseated.org) accepts and supports the “The Declaration of Sexual Rights” by WAS, accepted and revised in March, 2014. However, there are some violations of the sexual rights of women in Turkey. If we want to summarize them in short, the main titles would be:

1)      Domestic Violence.

2)      Homicide of women by lovers, husbands or family members because of the cultural and traditional beliefs.

3)      Child marriages.

4)      Molestation and sexual abuse of women by certain segments of the society sometimes.

5)      “Sexual Rape” crimes.

6)      Some legal discrepancies about “the rape issue”. For instance, the rapist is not punished if he accepts to get married to the victim in some parts of Turkey.

7)      Inappropriate precautions and education on birth control.

8)      The politicians’ attitude on “living together of men and women without marriages”.

9)      The social attitudes (or the politicians’ intervention) on the merits of “Virginity” or “being virgin before the marriage”.

10)  Unconsummated marriages, because of many dogmas and taboos of the society.

11)  Increasing number of sexual function disorders, such as vaginismus and anorgasmia.

12)  Lacking of appropriate sexual education at high schools or universities.

13)  Many other social and cultural issues that violate the women’s rights.