Although Turkey raised the minimum age of marriage to 17 in 2007, the country currently has one of the highest rates of child marriage in Europe. the legal age is 17, under a legal provision for “exceptional circumstances” a family can seek the consent of the courts to legally marry a child who is younger than the established legal age. However, what is considered an “exceptional circumstance” is rather vague. Although Turkey already has laws in place to protect children, countless underage girls are married off by their families every year. Child marriage is not just a family issue: it is a violation of human rights and as such must be addressed by government legal circles in Türkiye. In 2011, Turkey signed the Council of Europe convention aimed at combating violence against women, which provides for the adoption of laws making child marriage a crime. Even though Turkey is a signatory to the agreement, the rate of child marriage in the country continues to rise every year. While families may be aware of laws regarding marriage, many prefer to avoid such legalities by marrying their children in religious ceremonies. , which are often not reported to the authorities. Therefore, it is difficult to find an accurate account of child brides in Türkiye. According to reports, there are around 180,000 child brides in the country. However, this statistic does not reflect the unknown number of religious marriages that are not legal or reported to the state. Some reports place the actual figure at a third of all marriages in Turkey involving at least one partner who has not reached the legal age of consent. One has to wonder about the number of illegal and underage marriages... middle of the paper... legal marriages should be forced, without exception, to accept the legal consequences of their actions. Communities need to stop turning a blind eye to this form of child abuse and start speaking out. By depriving a girl of her childhood, her life and dreams are seen as unimportant. All children deserve an education. Everyone deserves the opportunity to have financial stability in their lives. Every child should have the opportunity to experience a childhood and not be sold, traded or bought as a child bride. By law, a child cannot be forced to marry when he or she has not reached the legal age of consent. However, too many winked and looked the other way for too long as girls were sent to new homes as “gelin” or young brides. This attitude must change if women are to take their rightful place in Turkish society. Anything less is an insult to all women.