Outrage
Today, I was listening to NPR on my way home from work. The news story was about a women's rights group in Iraq who are opposing the custom of honor killings. Basically, this term refers to the killing of a woman who has brought shame upon the family. I have heard of this custom before. It exists in many cultures.
The part that left me dismayed and outraged was that these women who have "brought shame" to the family are generally young girls who have been abducted by groups of men. Sometimes, for the men's own pleasure. Sometimes, for ransom. The story they told on NPR went like this:
Fatima was a 16-year-old girl, living in Iraq. She was kidnapped by a group of men who demanded that her brother quit the Iraqi army or they would rape and kill Fatima. Her brother, not wanting harm to come to his sister, quit the army, as requested. Fatima was returned to her home, only to be killed by her family. According to her uncle, the family could not take the risk that Fatima had been raped, bringing shame upon the family. "Yes, he said, "I did not even ask her what had happened. She would not have told me the truth. We could have taken her to a medical professional to find out if she was still a virgin, but that would have only made it worse, calling attention to our family." Instead, they chose to extinguish her life. Because her brother could not bear to shoot his sister, and because her father could not make himself pull the trigger, Fatima's uncle shot her. He described her reaction, "I could see that she did not expect to die by our hands. I could see in her eyes that she expected us to open our arms, hold her, and tell her 'We are so glad you are home unharmed.' But, instead she got bullets. We rapped it up quickly. We know some people at the morgue, so they were able to bury her. She is gone. It is done."
He went on to say how her life would have been miserable, had she been allowed to live. "The family would have kept her indoors at all times. Her father would have had to hang his head in public."
The Islamic religion does not condone honor killings. The people of Fatima's town, however, maintain that culture is stronger than religion. Her uncle expressed his fatalistic beliefs as such, "It has been this way for so many years. What can change?"
In cultures where women are treated as property, honor killings, throwing of acid, and sexual slavery are commonplace. I took the liberty of looking up some more information about this on Amnesty International's website. On it, you can find a link to donations and organized activism to stop violence against women.
The part that left me dismayed and outraged was that these women who have "brought shame" to the family are generally young girls who have been abducted by groups of men. Sometimes, for the men's own pleasure. Sometimes, for ransom. The story they told on NPR went like this:
Fatima was a 16-year-old girl, living in Iraq. She was kidnapped by a group of men who demanded that her brother quit the Iraqi army or they would rape and kill Fatima. Her brother, not wanting harm to come to his sister, quit the army, as requested. Fatima was returned to her home, only to be killed by her family. According to her uncle, the family could not take the risk that Fatima had been raped, bringing shame upon the family. "Yes, he said, "I did not even ask her what had happened. She would not have told me the truth. We could have taken her to a medical professional to find out if she was still a virgin, but that would have only made it worse, calling attention to our family." Instead, they chose to extinguish her life. Because her brother could not bear to shoot his sister, and because her father could not make himself pull the trigger, Fatima's uncle shot her. He described her reaction, "I could see that she did not expect to die by our hands. I could see in her eyes that she expected us to open our arms, hold her, and tell her 'We are so glad you are home unharmed.' But, instead she got bullets. We rapped it up quickly. We know some people at the morgue, so they were able to bury her. She is gone. It is done."
He went on to say how her life would have been miserable, had she been allowed to live. "The family would have kept her indoors at all times. Her father would have had to hang his head in public."
The Islamic religion does not condone honor killings. The people of Fatima's town, however, maintain that culture is stronger than religion. Her uncle expressed his fatalistic beliefs as such, "It has been this way for so many years. What can change?"
In cultures where women are treated as property, honor killings, throwing of acid, and sexual slavery are commonplace. I took the liberty of looking up some more information about this on Amnesty International's website. On it, you can find a link to donations and organized activism to stop violence against women.
posted by Bert at 10:12 PM
1 Comments:
Heaven forbid that the father hang his head in shame! I guess that matters more than a person's life. I try to be culturally sensitive, but practices such as that one get me a bit riled and I would never understand.
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