Britain has begun a public awareness campaigns to combat forced marriages and “honor killings.” I have seen this story headline on cnn.com for two days and finally got up the gumption to watch the video.
According to the video, 17,000 women are victims of honor crimes and forced marriages each year. The honor of the family is more important than the life of a child. They believe that they can restore the family honor by killing women. This is, among many other things, is one more example of what happens when the lives of women have no value.
It is not just happening in Britain:
On July 6, police say, a Pakistani named Chaudhry Rashid strangled his 25-year-old daughter San- deela Kanwal with a Bungee cord in her bedroom because she wanted to end her arranged marriage. This “honor killing” came not in Pakistan, but in Jonesboro, Ga. – a suburb 16 miles outside Atlanta.
At his arraignment, Rashid said through an Urdu interpreter that he was “not in the state of mind to talk because of the death of his daughter,” but stated “I have done nothing wrong.” John in Carolina
In 2003 in Britain, a Kurdish man, Abdalla Yones, stabbed his 16 year old daughter 11 times and then slit her throat because she had a Christian boyfriend.
One Turkish-German women, Hatin Surucu, had been married off to a cousin in Turkey at 16. She escaped at 22 with her son and fled to Berlin, where she took up residence at a single mothers home. She finished school and began specialist training as an electrician. Her family tracked her down and her 3 brothers shot her as she waited for a bus in 2005. Common Sense Conspirator
Um so what happens to the men who dishonor the family?
5 comments ↓
Honor killings need to stop. It’s all Patriachial because nothing happens to men if they dishonor their families. It’s always women who suffer.
The question La Belle is how do you stop them
That’s a tough one. They will immediately say it’s an attack on their heritage and culture which is total b.s. There are just as many female enablers involved with that as there are in the Black community. I think talking about it, maybe doing PSAs, offering economic relief and micro-loans would certainly help. When women are able to care for themselves and be more independent we have freedom and incentive to change things. It’s a long-term goal and a solid plan is necessary. It may take an entire generation or two to change. I don’t know….it’s sad though.
..how do you stop them ..(?)
How does true civilization ’stop’ poisonous snakes, or rabid dogs?
No discussion of solutions to this problem can be taken as serious that does not include an understanding of the utter uselessness of ‘teaching’ and ‘PSAs’.
All ‘talking’ solutions are simply a way of pretending to take action, while in fact doing nothing. The murderers ignore the talk, and the honor killings continue unabated.
re: possible solution??
I think nothing short of women across the globe banning together to help one another. And we can!
As it is now, those women suffering from the honor killing –and most women across the world– are like a sliver of a moon. Without much power to compete against the sun. Perhaps they can compete against a distant star –a distant man. i.e. run away?
But when the moon is full, or even when its only half full -then we can all see it in the sky competing with the sun in broad daylight!
I think, in the same token, when women ban together and arise to their full glory –or not even full, even to half their glory– they can compete against man even in man’s realms.
But it takes togetherness, unity. I don’t mean we all cast aside our uniqueness, but I do mean that every Jewish woman, Muslim woman, Christian woman, whatever gender, race, culture, etc. must come together to fight for each other. Only then can we compete.
Also when I say compete, I don’t mean step on man’s toes, ridicule him, etc. I mean have our place and they have theirs. Harmony.