Erdogan tackles violence against women

istanbul - President Erdogan of Turkey is in favor of severe punishment for men who use violence against women. He calls this violence unacceptable.

Men who use violence against women, 'must be punished for their betrayal of humanity', he said Sunday at a meeting on this topic in Istanbul. The president also wants Turkey to leave forced marriages and child marriages behind. 'He told his audience that the government is working on a program to achieve these goals.

If you are not eighteen years old in Turkey, you should not marry. However, the law provides for 'extraordinary cases' in which someone of sixteen or seventeen may marry. Women's rights organizations say that in Turkey at least 15 percent of all girls marry before the age of eighteen.

The same organizations have been complaining about the widespread violence against women for some time. The independent Turkish press agency Bianet says that since 2010 at least 1915 women in Turkey have been murdered by men. The perpetrators are usually partners or ex-partners.