Fiba Agenda
Fiba Group expands awareness with the “Yük Olmasın” project
Fiba Group continues to draw attention to inequalities stemming from care work and the mental load it creates. As part of the “Yük Olmasın” project, the Group is focusing on raising awareness between 29th of February, Equal Care Day and 8th of March, International Women’s Day, while reminding society of the importance of sharing responsibilities more equally.
Highlighting that the inequality surrounding care work and mental load extends beyond individuals’ private lives, Fiba Group Corporate Communications Director Aylin Kurt Ganiç emphasized that the issue is “not only a women’s issue, but also a matter of economic and social development.”
Through the Yük Olmasın project, launched to highlight care work, mental load, and the unequal distribution of these responsibilities, Fiba Group is bringing awareness activities to various locations across the city between 29th of February, Equal Care Day and 8th of March, International Women’s Day. Installations focusing on the roles women take on in daily life, the decisions they are expected to make, and the unequal distribution of responsibilities will be open to visitors free of charge at different locations across Istanbul.
A labyrinth that makes inequality visible
A large-scale labyrinth to be set up at Terminal İstanbul between 26th of February and 1st of March will take visitors on a journey that encourages them to question how many responsibilities they carry. As participants move through the maze, they will evaluate how many of the responsibilities displayed on the walls they personally carry and how many they share with others before reaching the exit.
Featuring striking insights about care work and mental load, the labyrinth will pose a central question to visitors: “Are you aware of the load you carry?”
“How many hats does a woman wear?”
Another installation symbolizing how care work and mental load translate into everyday responsibilities will be displayed at Mecidiyeköy Metro Station. Using hats as a visual metaphor, the installation aims to make visible the many roles that women often take on both at home and at work, including parent, partner, cook, nurse, and caregiver.
Running between 28th of February and 6th of March, the installation invites visitors to reflect on the question: “How many hats does a woman wear?”
Drawing attention to invisible burdens in a retail setting
Between 28th of February and 8th of March, another installation will reveal how everyday tasks can accumulate and turn into invisible burdens. Positioned in front of the Marks&Spencer Bağdat Street store, the design highlights the responsibilities often carried by women and invites passersby to reflect with the question: “Are you aware of the load you carry?”
“Not a women’s issue, but a development issue”
Stating that the Yük Olmasın project aims to make care work and mental load more visible, Fiba Group Corporate Communications Director Aylin Kurt Ganiç said:
“Choosing 29th of February as Equal Care Day is highly meaningful, because the effort invested in daily life unfortunately remains ‘invisible.’ According to OECD data, women in Türkiye perform 3.5 times more unpaid work than men. This inequality is certainly not confined to individuals’ private lives. These disparities lead to time poverty and burnout for women. As a result, some women reach the point of leaving their jobs, which in turn increases the risk of economic hardship. For this reason, equality in care work and mental load is not just a women’s issue. It is also an economic and social development issue. The first step toward solving the problem is, of course, awareness. In the third year of our project, we wanted to create more points of engagement and make invisible burdens visible throughout the city. We invite everyone who shares the vision of a more equal world to support our call with the hashtag #YükOlmasın.”
Care work and mental load push women out of the workforce
According to the Research on the Impact of Care Work and Mental Load on White-Collar Employees, conducted by Fiba Group in collaboration with Özyeğin University, care work and mental load make it more difficult for women to remain in the workforce. The study shows that 31 percent of women report leaving a job at some point in their lives due to care work and mental load. Among married women with children, 14.53 percent say they have had to decline a promotion offer at least once for the same reasons.
Women also expect their workplaces to raise awareness about household responsibilities and related workloads. According to the research, 85.26 percent of participants state that workplace policies addressing care work and mental load positively influence their job preferences and motivation. Women who carry the majority of care work and mental load at home expect institutions to take a more active role in raising awareness on the issue.
More detailed information about the project is available at www.yukolmasin.com.tr.
