Turkish Parliament to Vote on Bill Allowing Child Rape If Rapist Marries Victim

The controversial proposal is based on a statute from 1926 which had previously been removed from Turkish law during EU-accession talks. Government officials claim that by reintroducing the statute they seek to reunite families where males were put behind bars for unknowingly breaking the law.

The bill's advocates believe it would protect both the female minor and the rapist's legal wife, if he is married, making sure a wife is not left alone with children and no support in the event of the man's capture, conviction, and sentencing.

Critics point out that the bill encourages child rape and cultivates the idea that a woman is not a citizen with full rights, and can only be successful if she has a man to take care of her.

According to Senal Sarihan, an MP representing Ankara for the Republican People's Party (CHP) and a strong critic of the bill, the proposal's real aim is to "remove women from school, higher education, work and every active part of life and shift the country toward sharia law."

"[The proposal] is taking Turkey backwards and…is against many laws and international conventions to which Turkey is a signatory," he told Deutsche Welle.

Women's rights groups throughout the world also condemned the initiative, saying that the wording of the bill is too vague and may be wrongly interpreted in ways that push young women into unwanted sexual relations with their abusers. Although the bill does mention that marriage would only be allowed if female minors were not forced, or tricked, into having sex, the definition of consent, according to critics, is not properly specified.

"If a 60-year-old man wants to marry a 10-year-old girl and convinces the family of this, will it be considered as the child's consent?" said Cigdem Hacisoftaoglu, a volunteer lawyer working at Purple Roof, a women's shelter in Istanbul. "And if we talk about consent, when is the proper age for someone to give it?"

According to Hacisoftaoglu, leaving such crucial questions open to interpretation is dangerous.

Sharp criticism from the Turkish opposition, and from citizens and human rights groups have resulted in nationwide protests against the bill. A massive protest is expected in front of Turkey's parliament in Ankara on Tuesday, the day that the country's parliament will vote on the bill.