İskender Bayhan, a Member of Parliament (MP) for Turkey’s Labour Party (EMEP), has brought forward allegations of harassment involving two female students registered in the Vocational Education Centre (MESEM) programme at a Turkish high school in Istanbul.
The incidents, which reportedly occurred at their respective workplaces, were highlighted during a parliamentary session, sparking a broader debate about the safety and oversight of vocational training programmes.
One of the students, enrolled in the logistics department and placed at Sertrans Logistics for training, reportedly faced sexual harassment during her tenure. Bayhan criticised the company’s response, where the students were allegedly told to “get accustomed to harassment as it is a common aspect of working life”. This statement, attributed to the employer, has raised significant concerns about the normalisation of such behaviour in workplace environments.
Further exacerbating the issue, Bayhan recounted another instance where a female apprentice, working at Mercedes, was subjected to harassment by a client. In this case, the response from Mercedes officials was to blame and dismiss the victim, a move that has been condemned for victimising the complainant further. According to Bayhan, these are not isolated incidents but indicative of a broader pattern of harassment faced by female apprentices in various workplaces.
Highlighting the systemic issues within the MESEM programme, Bayhan pointed out the lack of oversight and regulation that has led to not only harassment but also long working hours, workplace accidents and other forms of exploitation. He criticised the Education Ministry for “effectively abandoning these students to the whims of employers, providing them with unchecked control over the students’ labour”.
Bayhan’s inquiries to Education Minister Yusuf Tekin included questions on the number of apprentices and journeymen who have faced harassment or abuse, the measures in place to monitor and prevent such incidents, and the actions taken against companies like Sertrans Logistics that fail to protect their trainees. He also questioned the support systems available for victims within the educational institutions and the legal recourse pursued in cases of harassment.
These recent cases once again brought to light the vulnerabilities faced by students in vocational training programmes and calls for a comprehensive review of the MESEM framework to ensure the safety and rights of all participants.
