Turkey May Introduce 'Marry Your Rapist' Law

Turkey could introduce a new law which will allow men to bypass punishment for raping a girl under 18 if they marry the victim.

The law called "marry-your-rapist" bill, which lawmakers are planning to introduce to Turkish parliament at the end of January, has sparked fury among women's rights campaigners in the country.

Activists and Turkish opposition leaders who are against the law have argued that the law will not only advocate child marriage and statutory rapes but also lead to child abuse and exploitation.

According to a report, 482,908 girls under the age of 18 years were married during the last decade. Four years ago, in 2016, the Turkish government has brought in a law to forgive the men who had sex "without force or threat." The law was axed after global outrage.

Suad Abu-Dayyeh, a campaigner for Equality Now, told The Independent, "I applaud the brave work of women's rights campaigners in Turkey who are taking a stand against this discriminatory bill and pushing back again regressive forces that are seeking to remove current legal protections for girls."

Turkey is a country where violence against women and girls have been frequently reported. According to the United Nations report, at least 38 per cent of women in the country have faced some form of physical or sexual violence from a partner.

Another report by a campaign group called - We Will Stop Femicide has said in the year 2017, their family members killed 409 women.

The law attracted flak from netizens and left many of them shocked.

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