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Appeal for international support to stop Turkey's child rape law

WOMEN’S organisations and activists in Turkey have appealed for international solidarity as the Islamist ruling party seeks to introduce a child rape law that would grant amnesty to perpetrators who marry their victims.

The parliament will vote on the legislation on Tuesday, but women’s rights groups have vowed to send “hundreds of thousands” of protesters to block the passage of the Bill, which could also lead to the release of around 4,000 jailed paedophiles.

There have been nationwide demonstrations against the legislation, which forms part of the second judicial package to be presented by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party.

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