Şenal Sarıhan
{{short description|Turkish politician}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Şenal Sarıhan
| image = Şenal Sarıhan.jpg
| image_size = 175px
| honorific-suffix = MP
| nationality = Turkish
| other_names =
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1948|2|17|df=yes}}
| office = {{GNAT MP}}
| term_start = 7 June 2015
| term_end = 24 June 2018
| constituency = Ankara (II) (June 2015, Nov 2015)
| known_for = Human rights activism
| occupation = Lawyer
| awards = Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award (1997)
}}
Şenal Sarıhan (born 17 February 1948) is a Turkish attorney, feminist, and human rights activist. She won the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award 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.{{cite web |url=http://rfkcenter.org/senal-sarihan |title=Senal Sarihan |publisher=Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights |accessdate=6 July 2012}}
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 in an interview.{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/01/08/world/turks-clash-over-defense-of-virginity-tests.html |title=Turks Clash Over Defense of Virginity Tests |author=Stephen Kinzer |date=8 January 1998 |work=The New York Times |accessdate=6 July 2012}}
Sarıhan was an active opponent of several proposals of the Prime Minister Tayyip Erdoğan 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;{{cite web |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna6018179 |title=Turkey still weighing anti-adultery law |date=2004 |publisher=NBC News |access-date=6 July 2012}} In 2007, she led protests against his party, expressing fears that it would seek to institute Sharia law.{{cite web |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-turkey-women-idUSL226775020070604 |title=Turkish women gain voice in fight to stay secular |author=Emma Ross-Thomas |date=4 July 2007 |publisher=Reuters |accessdate=6 July 2012}} the plans were later dropped.{{cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/3654650.stm |title=Turkey signals U-turn on adultery |date=14 September 2004 |publisher=BBC News |accessdate=6 July 2012}} The following year, she organized a rally of around 40,000 people to protest the lifting of a ban on head scarves in universities.{{cite news |url=http://www.iol.co.za/news/world/head-scarf-40-000-turks-protest-1.387891 |title=Head scarf: 40 000 Turks protest |date=2 February 2008 |work=South Africa Times |accessdate=6 July 2012}} She is a member of the Republican People's Party (CHP).{{cite web|url=http://www.chp.org.tr/en/?pm=senal-sarihan |title=Şenal SARIHAN |accessdate=1 Oct 2014}}
She was removed from the CHP candidate lists for the 2018 Elections.{{Cite web|url=http://www.cumhuriyet.com.tr/haber/siyaset/979389/CHP_de_kadin_aday_isyani.html|title = CHP'de kadın aday isyanı}}
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award laureates}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sarihan, Senal}}
Category:Prisoners and detainees of Turkey
Category:Turkish human rights activists
Category:Turkish prisoners and detainees
Category:Place of birth missing (living people)
Category:Members of the 25th Parliament of Turkey
Category:Members of the 26th Parliament of Turkey
Category:Republican People's Party (Turkey) politicians
Category:Istanbul University Faculty of Law alumni
Category:Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award laureates
Category:20th-century Turkish lawyers
Category:21st-century Turkish lawyers