Contents Flying Broom and child marriages......................................................................................5 Child Marriages in the news..............................................................................................8 Flying Broom visits schools................................................................................................17 Say‘No’ to Child Brides Platform........................................................................................18 We are stronger together: Girls not Brides......................................................................20 Yıldız Ecevit: “This is basically a problem of women’s independence”..................21 Reasons behind early and forced marriages.................................................................26 Consequences of early and forced marriages...............................................................27 18// Yakın Ertürk: “The girl child: Born to be a bride?” ....................................................28 Leyla Pervizat:“Honor is all Turkey cares about!”...........................................................30 UNICEF: Turkish youth and early marriages...................................................................36 Bride: Casualty of marriage, by Selen Doğan.................................................................38 The current situation in Turkey, by Selin Berghan.........................................................42 Adem Arkadaş:“Early marriage is the new form of slavery”........................................45 Optional Protocol to the CRC in 11 questions, by Adem Arkadaş-Thiber............50 Sema Kendirci:“New law on violence does not include child brides!”....................55 Şahin Antakyalıoğlu: The most common form of rights breaches are those committed against children............................................................................................58 The Committee on Equality of Opportunity for Women and Men...................60 30// What do numbers say about early marriages................................................................61 To be transformed into a marriage blowu-up doll..................................................63 Derya Müftüoğlu: “An unlived adolescence will have lifelong negative effects.......................................................................................................................................64 I never found the time to fall in love, by Gözde Dağdelen.............................................67 Migration and early marriages, by Işıl Bayraktar...........................................................70 What do we know about incest?.......................................................................................72 A campaign: Don’t marry her off!..................................................................................73 ECPAT says‘no’ to child marriage, by Alessia Altamura.................................................74 The dairy of migrant child brides in Germany, by Eda Özyurt Kılınç.......................75 Action plan against forced marriage in Norway...........................................................76 Child marriage: A global disaster......................................................................................78 44// Six things you could do to prevent early marriages......................................................83 Cinema and child marriages, by Özlem Kınal.................................................................84 The real face to a‘sacred family’..........................................................................................88 Child brides are all around..................................................................................................90 Child brides in 54 cities........................................................................................................92 In conclusion..........................................................................................................................94 72// Flying News 1 With the contribution of the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Ankara November Owner 2012 Ayşe Ürün GÜNER Executive Editor Halime GÜNER Editor in Chief Selen DOĞAN Translators Ceren KOCAMAN Burç KÖSTEM Graphic Design When we think of all traditions that globally recreate and perpet- Emre YILMAZ uate sexual discrimination, forced marriage undoubtedly ranks first on our lists. In a patriarchal society marriage takes on a form Flying Broom Team of fetish where the traditional equals the divine, which also means Sevna SOMUNCUOĞLU, Selen DOĞAN, abolishing childhood. Unquestionably taking on a social heritage Özlem KINAL, Eda ÖZYURT KILINÇ, Sibel and putting it into effect means the victimization of women and GÜNEŞ, Gufran ELEMİN children. The girl child, who is married off even before she can properly utter her name, is forced into the life of a bride with the Contributors child that she is, and the life of an elderly with the youth that she Adem ARKADAŞ-THIBERT, Alessia AL- bears. She forever bears the pain and burden of finding herself in TAMURA, Asuman KÜÇÜKKANTARCI, the arms of a man instead of playing in the streets, having to offer Derya MÜFTÜOĞLU, Eda ÖZYURT KILINÇ, her body to someone else before even getting to know it herself, Esin KOÇ, Gözde DAĞDELEN, Işıl BAY- and taking captivity as her faith, let alone liberating her soul. RAKTAR, İlknur YÜKSEL, Leyla PERVİZAT, Özlem KINAL, Selin BERGHAN, Sema Early and forced marriages take thousands of girls’ lives away, KENDİRCİ, Sevna SOMUNCUOĞLU, Şahin even if not in the literal sense. Their stories make up a wounded ANTAKYALIOĞLU, Yakın ERTÜRK, Yıldız memory within the society. Victimization of women in multiple ECEVİT. areas such as unequal relation between the sexes, firm lines of Bilkent University Faculty of Fine Arts, EC- domestic roles, health problems, feminization of poverty and in- PAT International, Girls not Brides, Turk- creased domestic violence are but an iron fist in their throats – it ish Network against Commercial Sexual doesn’t go away, nor can it stay. Exploitation of Children, MYRA, No to Child Brides National Platform, UNICEF. Marrying children is sexual, economic and emotional exploita- tion. It is “institutionalized pedophilia” for some academics, and Flying Broom “the modern form of slavery” for some activists. Marrying chil- Büyükelçi Sokağı 20/4 Kavaklıdere- dren means accomplice to rape, legitimizing rights violence and Ankara perpetuating gender inequalities. Tel: +90 312 427 00 20 Fax: +90 312 466 55 61 Flying Broom chose to bring this issue into the national agenda E-mail: [email protected] with the projects it conducted since 2006 and its publications in- www.ucansupurge.org stead of overlooking this major social problem. This journal is yet another one of these efforts. This issue brings together different Printer aspects and views on one of the most important rights violations Mattek Matbaa issue – child marriages – and offers articles, interviews and news Ağaç İşleri San. Sit. 1354 (Eski 21. Cadde) pieces tacking the issue in such contexts as law, healthcare, edu- 1362. Sokak No:35 Yenimahalle - İvedik - cation and much more. ANKARA gtygy We would like to present you with this issue which constitutes an Printing Date archive for all those who are interested in and would like to find- 15 November 2012 ing out more about child marriages, and would also like to thank everyone who has contributed. Type of Publication Local Periodical Publication Flying Broom 2 Flying News Flying News 3 2007 FLYING BROOM AND CHILD MARRIAGES: In 2007, Flying Broom used the festival as a tool in order to draw attention to the problem of early and forced marriages. The theme of the short film story competition was set as ‘early marriages’ in the 10th Flying Broom International Women’s Film Festival. Over 300 short film stories were submitted to the festival that year. The first 10 stories, which were picked A BRIEF HISTORY by the jury, were invited to a scenario-writing workshop by Işıl Özgentürk in Ankara. Some of the scenarios were filmed at the end of the workshop to be screened in next year’s festival. Using the narrative of cinema was an influential way of addressing early and forced marriages. These films meant that if films, one way or another, tell real life stories and manage Having recognized early and forced marriages as a problem area as to touch our souls in different ways, then reflecting a social problem to the silver screen could at least drive people into early as 2003-2005, Flying Broom started working on this social is- thinking about the negative effects of early marriages all around the world. 2008 sue in 2006. Here is a brief account of all the activities Flying Broom Flying Broom started the ‘Child 24, 2008 at Şinasi Sahnesi in Ankara with the cooperation Women’s Research and Communication Association has conducted Brides’ project in 2008, in coop- of Ministry of Culture and Tourism and Ankara State Thea- to combat child marriages in Turkey. eration with Dortmund Köln tre. Emine Bozkurt, member of the European Parliament International Women’s Film made a speech at the opening emphasizing that it is high 2003-2005 Festival and the support of time we say ‘no’ as society at large to early and forced mar- With its project entitled “Building Bridges” Flying Broom came together with thousands of women in 81 provinces of the European Union. A short riages. Upon request from the Hürriyet newspaper, the Turkey in order to see first hand the