She was born in Ankara in 1942. After her graduation from the Istanbul University Faculty of Law, she studied Constitutional Law at the London School of Economics for five years.

In 1976 she returned to Turkey and opened a law firm. In the 1980s, she got involved in the women’s movement which was becoming vibrant again. She offered pro bono services to women who needed legal aid in violence against women and divorce cases. In 1990, along with thirteen other women, she co-founded the Purple Roof Women’s Shelter Foundation (Mor Çatı Kadın Sığınağı Vakfı) to combat violence against women and strengthen solidarity and assistance among women. In 1997, she took part in the founding of the Association for Supporting and Training of Women Candidates (KA.DER), campaigning for greater participation and representation of women in politics. She has been one of the founders of the Istanbul Bar Association Women Rights’ Enforcement Centre. She organised numerous training seminars for lawyers taking up cases of violence against women in an effort to inform them about the male violence against women and how they should communicate with women throughout the proceedings. In the early 1990s, when she was in the US, inspired by the UN designation of November 25th as the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, she paved the way for and led the efforts of holding meetings on this very date in Turkey, first at Mor Çatı and later across the country.

In 2011, during her speech at a training seminar entitled “Violence against Women and Women’s Rights’ Law” organised by the Antalya Bar Association, while explaining how early marriage was a common phenomenon in Turkey throughout its history, in order to better illustrate her point, she referred to the marriages of the Prophet Mohammed as well as the Turkish president of the time. A group of male lawyers, who did not take part in this seminar, filed a criminal complaint against her; she stood trial on charges of “publicly degrading religious values, insulting the Prophet of Islam and the President, and inciting the public”, facing up to 5 years in prison. In 2012, she was detained by the police in Antep at the crack of dawn. She was released after being questioned on the alleged charges. The lawsuit initiated against her ended neither in conviction or sentence, nor in acquittal. The criminal proceedings were suspended.

She took part in countless platforms and initiatives. In 1994-1997, she sat at the Group of Experts on Action against Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (Council of Europe’s GREVIO); in 1995 she attended the United Nations Fourth Conference on Women in Beijing, and in 2000 the United Nations General Assembly Special Session "Women 2000: Gender Equality, Development and Peace for the Twenty-first Century" in New York; in 2005 she was one of the members of the group drafting the Shadow NGO Report on Turkey for the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW Committee). In 2012, she greatly contributed to Turkey’s bid to become the first country to ratify the Istanbul Convention; she defied Turkey’s decision to pull out of the Convention in early 2021.

She draws attention to the fact that the judicial system’s violation of women’s rights is one of the reasons for increasing violence against women in Turkey. She continues her struggle objectively and with perseverance, independent of the political polarisation, by preparing reports based on scientific studies and data, and within the legal domain. She spares no efforts in speaking up how the governments, through their policies, have curtailed and limited women’s rights over the years. She firmly believes that the hard-won rights claimed so far will only be safeguarded thanks to the courage and resolve of women, stressing on every occasion that she sees the hope in the women’s struggle.