The sexual abuse of minors in Turkey

The bill in Turkey which will enable "the release of sexual abuse suspects by marrying them with the victim" caused an outcry; however, Professor Şebnem Korur Fincancı, the head of the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (TİHV), is "grateful" for the bill. 

Fincancı, who is also a medical doctor, has been examining and helping sexually abused children for almost 30 years. She is quite right when she said, "This bill has made the threats concerning our children more visible."  
As a matter of fact, we have been discussing this bill for days. 

The chairwoman of TÜSİAD, the prestigious business association, Cansen Başaran Symes started her speech at the business summit in the Aegean province of İzmir, held over the weekend, not about the worrying rise of the U.S. dollar and increasing unemployment rate, but with the sexual abuse bill. She said, "The mentality of excusing the matter of children's sexual abuse should be absolutely abandoned."  

In the meantime, women's associations of different views and backgrounds held meetings with cabinet ministers, there have been talk shows on TV channels questioning this issue. As writing this, several columnists, both men and women, are also writing on the topic. 

Child brides are one of the most tragic issues of this country that we as women journalists have been writing about for years. 

These victims are coming out of the dark now, and are sharing their horrific experiences with us, the victims of incest, those abused since a very young age, have been in silence for so long. 

Very recently, Turkey's famous singer Nazan Öncel wore a black veil on stage at a concert, as a form of protest to the bill. She said she was also a victim of incest, and suffered the tragedy when she...