Turkish child marriage film sheds light on hidden abuses

Child brides in Turkey are often raped, beaten and forced to undergo virginity tests, according to Eylem Atakav, the director of a new documentary which aims to break the silence on the taboo issue. 

"Growing Up Married," due to premiere in London on Oct. 30, examines the impact of child marriage on four women who were forced to marry at a young age in western Turkey. 

"When hearing some of their stories I thought to myself, 'How are you still alive?'" Atakav said in an interview with the Thomson Reuters Foundation. 

Globally, one third of girls in developing countries, excluding China, marry before the age of 18 and one in nine do so before the age of 15, according to U.N. data. 

Campaigners say child marriage robs girls of their childhood and education, and increases the risk of domestic violence and sexual abuse. It also puts them in danger of death or serious injury if their bodies are not ready for childbirth. 

"There are lots of stories about child brides, but very few that look at what happens to them after," said Atakav, also a lecturer in film and television studies at the University of East Anglia in the UK.  

The Turkish-born director said her filming trip to İzmir in July revealed survivors felt an urgent need to speak out. 

"I had spent the day interviewing two of my parents' neighbors about their experiences," she said. 

"Then there was a knock on the door - three women from the neighborhood came to ask if I was making a film about child brides and said that they wanted to talk about their experiences too," she said.

Traumatized  

The women in the film, now in their 30s to 50s, were married between the ages of 14 and 17.  "They put a wedding gown...