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Women's groups to protest against Turkey's sickening child rape law

WOMEN’S organisations in Turkey have warned of “grave consequences” ahead of tomorrow’s protests over a sickening child-rape law that is set to be passed in the country’s parliament tomorrow.

Demonstrations will take place in a number of towns and cities including Istanbul and the capital Ankara, where the grand assembly building sits.

Women will don purple ribbons in protest as they hold what is believed to be one of the biggest protests since Turkey went into lockdown to stop the spread of Covid-19.

Protesters will maintain social distancing, but they insist that they will not remain silent over the law contained in an amendment to the judicial package which will allow rapists to escape punishment if they marry their victims.

The proposed amnesty law has been tabled by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling Justice & Development Party (AKP).

Although it was mooted earlier this year, it was unclear when it was being presented to parliament, with campaigners accusing the government of operating in secrecy to prevent mass demonstrations.

Those resisting its passage, including the opposition Peoples’ Democratic Party, argue that it will legalise the rape of children as young as 12.

Underage marriage is not legal in Turkey. But the figures make for grim reading. According to official statistics, a total of 482,908 children were married in the past decade.

The number of conceptions recorded among females aged under 18 was 21,957 in the last 18 months, according to the Health Ministry, but the real figures are likely to be much higher.

About 26 per cent of women in Turkey were married before they turned 18, and 10 per cent gave birth while they were still minors.

A total of 440,000 underage females have given birth since 2002. The number of girls under 15 who gave birth after being exposed to sexual abuse was recorded as 15,937.

The youngest girl to have given birth was just nine. She delivered a baby boy by caesarean section in the western city of Ayfon in 1990.

Nationwide demonstrations held prior to the coronavirus pandemic were attacked by the authorities, and there are fears that tomorrow’s activities will be brutally suppressed.

But Volkan Colakoglu of the Association for Combating Child Abuse & Neglect insisted the protests were necessary, warning of “grave consequences” if the amnesty is passed.

Speaking to the Mesopotamia Agency, he said that those devoted to the future of children “will set ourselves on fire if necessary” if the amnesty is tabled in parliament.

“You don’t need to be a woman to stand against this law,” he said. “These children belong to all of us, and it is our job as adults to protect these children. They cannot enact this law as long as we loudly and strongly protest.”

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