Two women in Turkey were stoned to death for allegedly committing adultery. Horrifying at any time, under any circumstances, but particularly horrifying when you hear that the murders took place recently, examples of the so-called "honour killings" that still happen in a country that is a member state of the Council of Europe.
It's more horrifying again when contrasted with the conditions for women in some of the other 39 Council member states such as Sweden, where women share responsibility for parental care with men as a matter of course, and where half the government's ministers are women. Even within Turkey the situation of women varies widely. The immediate visual impact in a city like Istanbul, which hosted the conference I recently attended, is in itself a paradox. Muslim women wearing traditional headscarves and long dresses walk alongside Western-style women in power suits or denims and leather.
In areas where the majority is dressed in the Muslim tradition, with head and body completely covered, huge advertisements show semi-clad women with Jennifer Anistonstyle "big hair". To tackle violence against women, the state and women's organisations have begun to provide counselling, legal representation and shelter to battered women. Women's NGOs and the media have been active in uncovering the violence, particularly "honour killings", and demands for effective measures against such acts are growing.
Many women in Turkey, from whichever tradition, do work outside the home - some hold key positions in business and other areas. In 1993, a woman, Tansu Ciller, became prime minister for the first time in Turkey and there are currently two women in the cabinet. Despite this the average number of women in parliament is the lowest among the member states, at 2.36 per cent.
This is in dramatic contrast to Sweden and Norway, which have 40.40 and 36.36 per cent respectively in parliament. The Republic of Ireland falls among a list of countries which have 12 to 15 per cent of female public representatives.
Sweden also has progressive schemes for parental leave to allow parents to share domestic responsibilities. Parents have the right to 15 months' paid leave in connection with the birth of a child and these days the leave can be shared equally between parents. They also have the choice of taking the benefit until the child reaches his or her eighth birthday.
In France there is legislation in the field of family law providing for equality between spouses, and also in labour law. An average of 77 per cent of women are in employment but there has been little change over the last 10 years in the sharing of housework and family responsibilities.
The situation in Romania offers a far more depressing picture. Its delegation admitted that most of the old inequalities inherited from the past had actually increased. These examples of the extremes in conditions and attitudes towards women illustrate the complex problems facing a modern society. While laws may be passed it is essentially attitudes that have to be changed. The dearth of women in politics generally was one of the major themes at the Istanbul conference, the fourth European Ministerial Conference on Equality. The Council of Europe acknowledged, however, that attitudes cannot be legislated for in any country. The Secretary General, Daniel Tarschys, summed it up when he said that the gap between law and practice was still very wide.