Child marriage

Main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) lawmaker Gülsün Bilgehan has criticized Turkey's record on women's rights with a report on the third anniversary of the Istanbul Convention. 

Turkish authorities will implement necessary measures to prevent child marriages via abduction after reports emerged that underage girls were being kidnapped and forced into marriage in exchange for payments to their families in two İzmir villages, Turkish Family and Social Policies Minister Fatma Betül Sayan Kaya has said.

It was excellent to see women banding together and making their voices heard on the government's recent child sex abuse bill. They were able to solve part of this issue. But a significant part of it is still there.  

A midnight draft by six ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Parti) MPs upended Turkey's already hectic political agenda after Nov. 18.

Men guilty of sexually abuse of children may avoid being prosecuted if they get married to the victim, according to a controversial motion proposed by members of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) that has been harshly criticized by opposition parties.

The head of the gender equality commission at the Turkish Parliament has called for trial without arrest for men accused of marrying children. 

Radiye Sezer Katırcıoğlu, a ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) lawmaker from the northwestern province of Kocaeli, said at the commission that current measures meant child brides become victimized twice:

Turkey's Religious Affairs Directorate (Diyanet) has issued a fatwa against underage marriages, saying they "shattered the lives of children."

The fatwa, included in a release responding to frequently asked questions from the public, said underage marriage could never be approved from a religious perspective. 

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. 

Turkey has ranked 55th out of 144 countries in a new study on the well-being of girls in 144 countries around the world, with lack of women's public representation being the most pressing issue the country faces, followed by child marriage. 

The second International Day of the Girl Child Conference was held in Istanbul on Oct. 11, hosted by the Aydın Doğan Foundation in cooperation with the United Nations Population Fund (UNPFA), U.N. Women, and UNICEF.