The panel titled “Human Rights Through the Lens of Social Work,” organized by the Department of Social Work at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at Yalova University, was held with the active participation of faculty members and students.
The panel was attended by Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences Dean Prof. Dr. Hasan Kaplan, Department of Social Work Chair Prof. Dr. Ali Rıza Abay, Yalova Provincial Deputy Director of Family and Social Services Sümeyye Yanık Doğan, along with faculty members, bureaucrats, and students.
Prof. Dr. Fethi Güngör, who was a speaker at the panel, discussed the historical development of human rights discourse and documents, as well as classifications related to human rights, restrictions, and the rights of vulnerable groups. Evaluating the topic from the perspective of the social work discipline, Güngör referred to fundamental international documents on human rights in his presentation and emphasized that social work is a human rights and advocacy profession.
Hüseyin Kerim Ece, who came from the Netherlands to present at the panel, shared his international experiences. Ece provided detailed information about rights-based practices in Dutch correctional institutions, where he served as a spiritual advisor for twenty years. Noting that although Muslims make up about 6% of the general population in the Netherlands, the proportion of Muslim prisoners reaches 20%, Ece emphasized that fifty of the 250 spiritual advisors working within the Dutch Ministry of Justice are Muslim. She explained that missionary activities are prohibited in correctional institutions, but that prisoners can choose their spiritual advisors and participate in the activities of their chosen spiritual advisors.
Our Faculty Dean Prof. Dr. Hasan Kaplan, who thanked the members of the Social Support Club for their efforts during the panel, and the participants enriched the panel with their questions and contributions. Yılmaz Çetin, a narcotics guide from the Yalova Provincial Security Directorate's Narcotics Crime Department, gave a short presentation on raising awareness about combating addiction based on human rights. At the end of the panel, Sümeyye Yanık Doğan, Deputy Director of Yalova Family and Social Services, spoke about her reasons for choosing the social work profession and rights-based institutional services, while Prof. Dr. Elif Yüksel Oktay, Head of the Department of Labor Economics and Industrial Relations at our University's Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, briefly explained the importance of rights-based service delivery.
The panel discussion on Human Rights from the Perspective of Social Services concluded with the presentation of participation and appreciation certificates to Hüseyin Kerim Ece and Prof. Dr. Fethi Güngör, followed by a group photo.
