Erdogan hints controversial underage sex abuse law will be reworked
NAN-F-11
Law
Istanbul, Nov. 25, 2016 (dpa/ NAN) Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, suggested on Friday that a controversial bill allowing sex offenders to see their convictions overturned by marrying their underage abuse victims would be reworked.
The original bill was discarded this week by parliament amid protests from civil society groups, secular opposition parties and the United Nations.
“I believe that it will come to our parliament again with a broad consensus,” Erdogan told a women’s conference in Istanbul, saying the original draft bill was “well-meaning” but poorly-prepared, leaving it open to misuse.
The one-off measure, proposed last week by members of Erdogan’s ruling Islamic-conservative Justice and Development Party (AKP), was meant to affect some 3,000 men either in jail or awaiting prosecution, according to figures from the cabinet.
The government said the law is needed in order to resolve existing instances of underage marriage and insisted it was not an amnesty for abusers who used force. Critics argued it would retroactively legalise cases of statutory rape.
Under pressure from various corners of society, including conservative women’s rights campaigners, Erdogan had called on parliament to seek a wider consensus on the issue, clearing the way for the government to slam the brakes on the draft proposal.
Report says the legal age for marriage in Turkey is 17, but a court can allow a 16-year-old to marry. The legal age of consent is 18.
There are thousands of underage marriages in Turkey each year, according to estimates by activists, though exact numbers are hard to determine. (dpa/NAN)
(Edited by Julius Enehikhuere)