Turkey had
put down a controversial law that would pardon rapists if they married their
victim even if they are underage women. The law outraged Turks during the time
it was approved for an initial hearing. According to Prime Minister Binali
Yildrim, the bill does not belong yet on the parliament floor. He would have
the Parliament forward it to an all-party committee.
Opposition
groups against the bill had protested along with other enraged citizens. UNICEF
had voiced out that the proposal "can weaken the country's ability to
combat sexual abuse and child marriages."
Turkey has
the highest number of child marriages in Europe. Estimates show that 15 per
cent of Girls below 18 years old are already married. The Prime Minister said
the problem could not be ignored because there are 3,800 cases and thousands of
children "paying the price of their parents' mistakes."
The ruling
Justice and Development Party had proposed the bill after the Turkish
Constitutional Court had amended part of the criminal code in July
declassifying all sexual acts with children under 15 years old as sexual abuse.
The approval of the bill would mean all cases of forced sexual encounters on
female children from 2005 and November 16, 2016 would have been forgiven.
