A BRIT has told how she was tricked into marrying a stranger on a family holiday – and forced to be a sex slave for four years before escaping.
Selin, whose name has been changed to protect her identity, says she was forcibly married off in Turkey aged just 17.
The Londoner claims she had a “very happy” upbringing before being whisked away on what she thought was her first family holiday.
Instead, she was raped by a stranger she called her husband, and left pregnant with a son.
Opening up about her ordeal, brave Selin told The Sun: “On my wedding night, I was brutally raped.
“It was my first sexual experience, and it is something I try not to think about. This carried on for four more years and I got pregnant.
“I’d never even had a boyfriend, and then I found myself trapped as a slave in a foreign country with no way back, pregnant by rape.”
“I had no money, no freedom; everything was taken away. My freedom to choose was removed.”
“I had no contact with my family at all and was living like a slave in every sense of the word – completely trapped.”
The actual wedding day remains so traumatic it’s a blur for Selin, but one thing she remembers is not even being able to choose her dress.
She continues: “The abuse was sexual, physical, emotional and financial. Every single human right was taken away from me.
On my wedding night, I was brutally raped. It was my first sexual experience, and I got pregnant
Selin
“Being a girl meant I had no choice, I had to cook and clean, no access to education and no freedom of choice.
“Unless you’ve experienced it, it’s hard to comprehend four years of living like a slave with no contact with your family or friends.”
Selin was looking forward to her first trip to Turkey.
She recalls she welcomed the three-week break from studying for A-levels and had fun beach days with her brother and sister.
But suddenly “something changed.”
One day when she got back, she saw suitcases in the hall.
They all returned to London without her – leaving her with her uncle who was tasked with auctioning her off.
Selin added: “I’m standing by a car, my mum and dad are in the front, my brother and sister are at the back, and the doors are locked.
“My dad says to my uncle, his brother, ‘If anyone wants her, please give her away.’
“I didn’t understand what he meant. I thought it was a joke, but then they drove off.
“I was in total shock – nobody near me, in my extended family or had ever been through something like this.
“Over the next few weeks, various men walked into my uncle’s house as prospective suitors.
“Some said they just didn’t like the look of me. Some wanted something slightly different. Then one day, a man said, ‘She’ll do’.
She still doesn’t know whose idea it was to forcibly marry and abandon her in Turkey, but assumes her parents were on board because they feared her adopting “western habits”.
“Their paranoia meant they worried I’d end up with a boyfriend and pregnant – but this was so far from reality.
“It was horror, a complete haze and I can’t really remember too much about it.
“They’re memories that I’m trying to forget, terrible memories of the worst time in my entire life.”
Not sure if her groom was also coerced into it, and unfamiliar with the concept of forced marriage, she never asked him if he knew she hadn’t consented to it.
Eventually, Selin had the opportunity to call her dad when her in-laws allowed her outside of the house to show off her newborn son.
She explained how difficult her life was under their roof and her concerned dad orchestrated a ploy so that she could come home.
Men walked into my uncle’s house as prospective suitors – some said they just didn’t like the look of me but one man finally said ‘She’ll do’
Selin
“My dad pretended to need me back to sort out some finances, and I’ve remained in the UK since.”
Selin is currently rebuilding her relationship with her family.
Scarred, she has received intensive counselling since and finally got to complete her A levels, later qualifying as a teacher.
“What’s happened to me hasn’t gone away. It’s something I live with every day and has definitely affected my relationships.
“I’m careful; I’ve been deeply scarred, but I’ve tried to move on and want to prevent this from happening to anybody else.
She now spends her time volunteering with Freedom Charity to support victims of forced marriage and other forms of gender-based violence.
Selin said: “It’s really important because hundreds of thousands of girls in the UK go on ‘holiday’ with no idea that they are going to be forced into a marriage and not allowed to return to their home country.
“They are British citizens, and we mustn’t forget that. The type of abuse that happens is appalling.
“Many, like me, are lured abroad under the guise of a family holiday. To anyone reading this who may be at risk: be aware that a family holiday could be a trap. And to everyone else: join us in our fight.”
“Education is our most powerful weapon. Together, we can ensure that forced marriage becomes a relic of the past, not realities of the present.”
“As I continue to rebuild my life and my relationship with my family, I’m driven by the hope that my story can save others. Through education and awareness, we can end these practices.
“No child should ever have to endure what I did. No one should have their freedom to choose stripped away.”
Freedom is a London-based charity which supports victims of forced marriage, FGM and family dishonour.
If you or anybody you know is displaying warning signs of forced marriage, contact Freedom Charity‘s helpline at 0845 607 0133.
FORCED marriage can happen anywhere, and one of those places is Turkey.
According to UNICEF, the legal age of marriage in Turkey is 18, but those aged 17 can marry with parental consent.
Although it is a Muslim-majority nation, the secular nation only recognises civil marriage, rather than a religious service on its own.
UNICEF say: “Despite the rising average age of marriage, child marriage remains an on-going challenge in Turkey.
“It reflects a pattern of gender inequality that reinforces stereotypical roles for girls and curtails their education, compromises their health, and exposes them to the risk of violence and poverty.”
According to the Forced Marriage Initiative, the rate of child marriage in Turkey is estimated at 14%.
They say that one study estimates that one third of all marriages in eastern and southeastern regions of Turkey involves child brides.
“Forced and child marriages continue to persist in Turkey due to poverty, lack of education, traditional beliefs and practices around marriage, domestic violence, and social pressure.”
