On Polygamy

The article “Activists Condemn Turkey Over Polygamy Upsurge” condemns polygamy too.

You might be surprised but I support polygamy.
    Aren't there many polygamic marriages and/or relationships in the modern world? Why not make polygamy legal and end hypocrisy?

Of course I'm totally against child marriages, or any forced marriage. However, if all parties involved are aware of the situation and accept it, I believe it's none of governments' business to interfere.
    The article claims “Even when the authorities can identify people engaged in polygamy, they say their hands are tied because marriage is seen as a private issue despite the law.”
    Well... It should not be only “seen as” a private issue, marriage is a private issue. As someone who has been forced to go to Las Vegas to get married, I believe the government should take its hands off personal affairs!
    Sure, laws are there to protect women. But which women? Can the poor, uneducated women make use of any of those laws that are there to protect her? No. They are not even aware of their rights. Even if they were, they are not in a position to use those rights. Because in Turkey, unfortunately, getting your basic right requires you to pay up a huge amount of money upfront, then enduring lots of stressful and unmeaningful court cases taking way too long. And in the end, what do you get? Disappointment, even when you win your case.

As the article states:
"Recently on Kanal A TV, conservative commentator Hasan Acikalin complained that Turkish Muslims are being forced to choose between their religious values and their home country. Muslims “can’t get married according to Islamic rules,” he said. “There is monogamy. Second or third spouses don’t have legal rights.”"

I tend to agree with Acikalin, not on religious grounds but on logical and functional grounds. Marriage is a way for women to have legal rights. Why take that away from them if they are the second or third spouses?

“Marriage was a way for Kinda to ensure her and her son’s security.”

Yes, unfortunately, it is so for many women. Why should you be taking away that security, why don't you protect the legal rights of those second wives and their children?

"Women’s rights activists worry that their efforts to fight practices like polygamy will be jeopardized by a stronger Islamist government."

Please stop putting your efforts on polygamy, but go after the root cause. Polygamy can work out fine. It can provide the support some women need. The problem is not that. The problem is again mentioned in the article, but put in the wrong logic order.

"According to Nur Burhan, a Syrian gender researcher with the Center for Civil Society and Democracy, the majority of second wives are child brides sold to Turkish and Syrian men by their own families.
    “These families don’t want the responsibility of their daughters anymore. They’re just thinking of putting food on the table,” Burhan said in her office in Gaziantep, another southeastern Turkish city grappling with the issue."

This is the real problem. Families not being able to put food on the table. I don't know why people go after the “effect” instead of the “cause.” The polygamy you are fighting against is only the effect. You should be banging on the head of the cause.

"Frustrated by what they see as the government’s failure to protect the victims of polygamy, aid organizations are focusing on increasing awareness about the issue. Letting people know, for example, that if an underage girl can prove her family forced her into marrying an already married man, she has the right to get the union annulled."

Sure, it's good to let people know their rights. But these people you are talking about, the underage girls, how do you, how can you expect them to have their union annulled even if they know they have the right? With which power, with which money, with which awareness, with which capability??
    We don't need laws, we need a more just society which protects women and provides their basic needs. We need a society, not just for Turkey, but all over the world, which recognizes the work women do which goes unpaid and unappreciated. We need a society where men are taught to respect women, a society where women are not seen as objects men can exercise violence on. We need a society that values women. It's not only the men, we need to raise the new generation of women respecting themselves in the first place. And for that, we need to empower women.
    We need more freedoms for women. We need more praise and tribute to women. We need more examples of women. We need to overthrow the male dominance seen everywhere in every field. We need to make visible the women who are made invisible. (The world is so male dominant that even the make-believe world of cinema ignores women. For detailed information, listen to the TED talk of Christopher Bell: Bring on the female superheroes! I am not in favor of this kind of merchandise for children; however, it is a good example how the world is set on ignoring women.)
     We need a more just society which will not have to use women, girls, children as a commodity. That's what we need. Leave polygamy aside and focus on the real problem, fight the real monster.

What's Wrong?

There is everything wrong with child marriages, with forced marriages, -In fact, there is everything wrong with coercion of any kind.- but there is nothing especially wrong with polygamy. There is everything wrong with a society pushing people towards hypocrisy. As long as men's nature stays the same, they will be going after bodily pleasures, they will be leading double lives. As long as women do not have the means to stand alone on their feet in this world, their abuse will go on the way it is.
    Don't condemn polygamy, condemn the unjust world where some people do not know what to do with all the money they have whereas other people have to worry about putting food on the table and the solution they find is selling their daughters.
    Don't stand up for monogamy, stand up for a just world where everyone is provided his/her basic needs.
    Enforcing monogamy is not the solution, empowering WOMEN is!