|
From: "Windsor Muslim women react to Shafia verdict"
Issa, a Muslim woman from Somalia who moved to Canada 19 years ago, said "It's really sad to hear that these thing exists during this day and time,"...."My concern is that this is an act of violence against women, regardless of what you call it. Whether you call it an honour killing or a crime of passion, it's just wrong and it's unacceptable, and it's about time we put an end to this kind of practice.".....
[...]
Reem Khan, a Muslim woman from Pakistan who has been living in Windsor for the past year, said the term "honour killing" makes the killings more exotic or foreign. [...] "It's cultural," she said. "This is absolutely against Islam and it's ignorant to use Islam to justify these crimes."
From: "'If you don't behave ... you'll die': Honour killings; Crime not so alien to Quebec"
Pearl Eliadis, a Montreal human rights lawyer, said "I think we're (in the West) fascinated right now with the concept of honour killings because that was the name given to it by the prosecution and the accused but that doesn't change what the underlying activity is," [...] "It's a violent assault on women because they're women."
[...]
Manon Monastesse, the director of an association of housing for abused women, says "the message to all women in those situations, no matter what their background, is the same,: 'If you don't behave the way I want you to behave, you'll die.' Both Eliadis and Monastesse continue to explain that violence against women is far more pervasive than many in Canada appreciate.
[...]
Payam Akhavan, a teacher of criminal law at McGill University, explains, "Far from being a religious belief, honour killings have their roots in tribal societies - predating Islam, Christianity and Hinduism - in which loyalty to the tribe and honour were important cultural practices," he explains both English common law and European civil law has had similar practices.... He continues "When we see it as something which belongs to a specific religion or specific culture, it's somewhat deceptive and misleading because we create a platform for feeling virtuous for our own values and masking the reality of massive domestic abuse in our own culture."
From: "Shining a light on honour killings' dark corner"
Marianne Mollmann, advocacy director for women's rights at Human Rights Watch, says
"The decision to not conform to the gender role you're supposed to play, that's what often leads to violence within the family. Where there are more opportunities for that, that could create a situation of abuse."
[...]
Honour killings tend to occur in communities that seek to control "women's lives, including their body, speech and behaviour," says Lindsay Mossman, an Amnesty International Canada campaigner for women's human rights.
Ill-informed religious zealotry animates some "honour" murderers. Some perpetrators are encouraged by cultures that tolerate or encourage their violence. And in some countries, honour killing is legitimized by sexist law. Under Iraq's penal code, for example, an "honour" defence can reduce a prison sentence from life to one year.
Toronto Star, July 25th 2009. (accessed on February 6th 2012)
From: "Shafia Trial Verdict: Honour Killing Hurts Image Of Canada's Muslims"
Aysan Sev'er, a professor at the University of Toronto specializing in the study of violence against women, said crimes involving a family's reputation must be treated differently from more conventional slayings.
Honour-based violence is communal in nature, she said, since it involves deep-rooted social traditions and extensive collaboration with others.
"There's a community component both in terms of putting pressure on the people and later on trying to justify, whitewash it, reduce the severity and so on," she said.
From: "Shafia murders: Fatwa issued against honour killings, domestic violence, hatred of women"
Muslim clerics in Canada issued a fatwa on Saturday against honour killings, domestic violence and hatred of women. "These crimes are major sins in Islam, punishable by the court of law and almighty Allah," said Prof. Imam Syed Soharwardy, representing 34 clerics affiliated with the Islamic Supreme Council of Canada.
From: "The Shafia honour killing trial-Chapter 1"
Shafia, the father or husband of those killed, was intercepted declaring, "They committed treason from beginning to end," ...."They betrayed kindness, they betrayed Islam, they betrayed our religion and creed, they betrayed our tradition, they betrayed everything."
From: "Mohammad Shafia sticks to his story"
The wiretaps are accurate, Shafia admitted. His daughters were lying, deceiving "whores" who snuck around with boys and broke his heart. But just Zainab and Sahar. Not Geeti. She just stole things from Wal-Mart, among other "mischievous habits." And yes, he said, their behaviour was an agonizing blow, and that's why he cursed them so viciously while police were eavesdropping. "My honour is important to me," he conceded.
But mass murder? Purity through bloodshed? The Quran would never condone such a thing, he testified. "To kill someone, you can't regain your respect and honour," Shafia told Laurie Lacelle, the prosecutor who conducted his cross-examination. "Respected lady, you should know that. In our religion, a person who kills his wife or daughter, there is nothing more dishonourable . . . How is it possible that someone would do that to their children, respected lady?"
From: "In Memory of Fadime Sahindal: Thoughts on the Struggle Against 'Honour Killing'"
[...] The culture of patriarchal violence is, thus, universal. Dividing cultures into violent and violence-free is itself a patriarchal myth. It turns into an ethnocentric or racist myth when this divide is drawn along the lines of the West and the East. Moreover, while the existence of patriarchy as a culture cannot be denied, a cultural reductionist approach alone does not take us a long way in the struggle against male violence.
See also an interesting editorial by a Canadian journalist or an additional article see "Muslim community grapples with Shafia verdict".
|
