Anger in Turkey over proposed child sex law

Hundredsofprotesters marched on Saturday in Istanbul and Ankara to protest against a government proposal which would pardon some people imprisoned for statutory rape in the past decade.

The proposal has so far fallen short of passage by legislators.

The Istanbul march was led by Turkish women organizations, according to private news agency Dogan, or DHA.

Protesters, mostly women, marched through the streets of Istanbul, holding banners and shouting "no to laws pardoning the sexual assault, no to (sexual) abusers."

Anotherprotest was held in Ankara, where some held signs that read "Rape cannot be pardoned." Similar demonstrations have taken place in other cities across the country in the last several days.

The proposal would indefinitely defer sentencing or punishment for sexual assault of minors in cases where there was no force and where the victim and perpetrator were married.

The government says this would be a one-time amnesty affecting about 3,000 families.According to the argument supporting the proposal,men imprisoned in these cases may have children at home whoneed them and it's unfair that they should be separated from them.

The government does not sanctionmarriage under the age of 18 in Turkey, but underage girls can getmarried through areligious ceremony.

An estimated 15 per cent of girls in Turkey marry before the age of 18, according to the international organization Girls Not Brides, which is workingto endchild marriage.

Following the defeat of the proposed law late Thursday, the government is bringing itback for another vote next week.

An earlier law, abolished in 2005, said there is no crime if the couple marry.

The proposed change in the law would apply to cases between 2005 and Nov.16 of this year.

Turkey's ruling party, rooted in Turkey's Islamic movement, says the proposal is meant to protect thosemen who did not realise they were engaging in sex with a minor and to keep families intact.

Critics say government proposal would legitimize child rape.