Thousands of people protested in Istanbul, Izmir and Trabzon, Turkey, against a bill that would release those men who assault underage girls, without force, threat, or any other restriction on consent, in case they later marry their victims. The bill has been introduced by the President and AKP party leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan who underlined the legislation was aimed at dealing with the widespread custom of child marriage. More specifically, the government stated that the bill was not an excuse to rape but an attempt to rehabilitate those men who might not have realized their sexual relations were unlawful and to prevent girls who have sex under the age of 18 from feeling ostracized by their community. It can help couples who engaged in consensual sex and want to marry, or children who are born from non-official unions. The protesters claimed that rape could not be legitimized and that minors had to be always protected against any sort of abuse. They are supported by the UN children’s fund, which considers all forms of violence against children as crimes which should be always punished in the best interest of the child, and by the parliamentary opposition, the Republic People’s Party. The bill, that follows a controversy after Turkey’s constitutional court in July 2015 annulled part of the criminal code which classified all sexual acts with children under 15 as sexual abuse, has been approved in an initial parliamentary reading and has to be voted on again in a second debate before the Members of Parliament cast their final vote. The gLAWcal Team LIBEAC project Saturday, 19 November 2016 (Source: bbc.co.uk)