Not All Islamic Countries Practice Honor Killings - Brief Article

WIN News, Wntr, 2000

FROM 'NEWSHEET', PUBLISHED BY: SHIRKAT GAH, WOMEN'S RESOURCE CENTRE P.O. Box 5192, Lahore, PAKISTAN

"Not all Muslim societies accept honor killings. Women of Iran cites the example of the Rasht area of Iran, where women have a history of greater decision-making powers and autonomy within the family[ldots]

In the Muslim-majority areas of West Africa also, honor killings are not known. Feminists from Nigeria and Senegal are often amazed that in Pakistan pre-marital sexual activity or choosing a marriage partner is sufficient excuse for a girl to be murdered by her family. Honor killings are not restricted to Pakistan. In Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Palestine and Jordan, to name but a few countries, such murders are well known.

'Honor' is in fact all about control and authority. In Turkey young women have been murdered for 'crimes' such as defying their families and going window-shopping in town.

A message recently circulated by the Turkish group, Women for Women's Human Rights (WWHR) on the Violence Against Women Web (VAWW) stated that in various incidents, four young women were killed violently in the name of 'honor' in recent years. 'Two of them were killed in the centre of town before dozens of people. One of them was pushed under a tractor and the other was shot in the head. Their crime was that they were disobedient to their families.'

The message is that 'killing takes place in public in order to teach a lesson to the other young girls and women in the community.' The authorities handling the case, according to WWHR, often cite local cultural attitudes and values as a basis for reduced or lenient punishments of the perpetrators, while police often return a woman to the family after she has sought refuge from the latter in exchange for a promise that no harm will come to her.

While the Turkish penal code does not appear to condone honor killings, traditional society has found a way out - usually honor killings are committed by under age male family members who, by virtue of their age, escape the maximum punishment.

The Iranian penal code, according to the 1993 book Women of Iran by Iranian feminists 'recognizes the right' of a father or brother to murder a girl found guilty of pre-marital sex' by imposing a maximum sentence of only six months in jail or a fine,' adding that 'In the case of a husband murdering an adulterous wife, there is of course no sentence'[ldots]

Honor killings are not, however, the unique preserve of Muslim societies. They were until very recently a recognised feature of the Balkan regions. In parts of the former Yugoslavia, tribal codes withstood the socialist regime's attempts to implement legislation which would have introduced and preserved the legal equality of women.

With the collapse of state authority in the area and a return to traditionalism, women support centres have discovered a rise in the incidents of violence against women, largely committed by family members. This was complemented by mass rapes by the enemy as part of the ethnic cleansing policy."