Reflection of Gender in the Field of Arbitration (Gender Equality in Arbitral Appointments)

The concept of arbitration generally refers to resolution of disputes outside the state's judiciary through an arbitrator or an arbitral tribunal for subjects that are arbitrable. If the works regarding the history of arbitration are examined, it will be seen that this concept was existent for a long period of time. However; in today's modern societies, arbitration as a dispute resolution method is based on rules that are accepted by each country through national and international legislation. Arbitration is being used more often by modern societies as a dispute resolution method, especially with the fast changing and developing commercial relationships among companies. Together with this, around the globe it is seen that there are less women working in the field of arbitration compared to men and there are several factors causing this. The aim of this article is to determine the problems that are causing gender inequality in the field of arbitration. Women that show effort in order to be appointed as arbitrators in arbitral tribunals in an international scope require to work and gain more experience compared to men in order to overcome the obstacles that are either visible or invisible. When we examine the situation in Turkey, since there is not sufficient statistical date on number of woman taking part in arbitral tribunals in Turkey, it is not possible to give a ratio in this matter. Still, arbitration is open for development and support in terms of enhancing the number of woman arbitrators in our country. Necessary work should be done in order to develop and generalize this field.