Turkish government's human rights institution defends child marriages

Duvar English

The head of the state-run Turkey Human Rights and Equality Institution (TIHEK) defended child marriages, and said that they should be differentiated from sexual assault.

"People shouldn't be tried over shameful crimes just because they got married young. This violate's people's rights, first and foremost of the children born into early marriages," TİHEK tweeted on Sept. 30.

"Erken evlilik ve cinsel istismar suçu ayrıştırılmalıdır. İnsanlar sadece erken bir yaşta evlendi diye yüz kızartıcı suçlardan yargılanmamalıdır.

Bu durum başta bu evliliklerden doğan çocuklar olmak üzere kişinin ve ailesinin haklarını ihlal etmektedir." @SuleymanArslan_

— TİHEK (@tihek_kurumsal) September 30, 2020

Prof. Neşe Özgen, an academic, slammed the institution's use of the expression "early marriage."

"Did you create a norm for 'underage kids consenting to rape'? Rape was the only thing you hadn't defended!" the professor said.

"Don't try your justifications over innocent children. If there are no underage marriages, children won't have kids," the journalist said.

Meanwhile, journalist Emin Çapa said that TIHEK was an institution for "justifying perversion under the guise of human rights."

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