Eighteen percent of men in Turkey think there shouldn't be a punishment for child marriage

"Everyone under 18 are legally children and children can't be married off (Photo: Hale Güzin Kızılaslan/csgorselarsiv.org)

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UN Women has released a study about men's perception of forced early marriages in Turkey.

The study was conducted by SAM Research and Consultancy company and based on quantitative and qualitative data obtained from interviews with men and women living in various cities.

It is aimed at mapping people's perception of and attitude towards concepts such as marriage age and practices, family and relationships, individuality, gender equality, gender norms and forced early marriage.

According to the study;

• 10 percent of men think girls who reach puberty are ready for marriage and 2.5 percent think boys are also ready for marriage after reaching puberty
• 18 percent of the respondents said there shouldn't be a punishment for forced early marriages
• 27.9 percent said a girl's parents should have the last say for her marriage. This rate is 23.8 percent for boys.
• 36.8 percent said "I don't find it right but I am not the one to be deal with it" when they encountered a forced child marriage.
• Among the respondents, mothers of 26.7 percent and fathers of 7.18 percent had an early marriage.
• Among the respondents, 19 percent of girls and 10.5 percent of boys couldn't continue education due to forced early marriages.
• 18 percent of the married respondents said they were married to a relative. (AÖ/VK)