There is No Honor in Killing.

After reading this article about an Afghan family in Canada convicted of murdering four of their relatives as a form of "honor" killings, I was compelled to learn more about it. In this particular case, three of the victims were sisters (aged 19, 17, and 13) and the other victim was a first wife who was unable to bear children. The prosecutors said the family members killed the three sisters because they dishonored the family by "defying its disciplinarian rules on dress, dating, socializing and using the Internet."

In general, most "honor" killings have involved the murder of women and girls, but some cases have involved male victims as well. According to results by the United Nations Population Fund, it is estimated that as many as 5,000 women and girls are killed each year by members of their own families. However, women's groups in the Middle East and Southwest Asia suspect the number of victims to be higher, around 20,000 a year. Often, many of these killings result from the "dishonor" of having been raped - as if these girls wanted to be raped? This seems to be a reflection of the family's demand that their daughters be chaste and virgins. Even if a girl is raped, she is then considered dishonorable by these standards. However today, more and more of these killings are carried out because of a break from traditional family values, such as what a girl wears, who she dates/marries, and how she socializes with friends. Additionally, many perpetrators of these actions receive light sentences or are excused by the courts entirely because "defense of the family's honor is treated as a mitigating circumstance."

According to a 2000 annual report to the Commission on Human Rights, "honor" killings had been reported in the countries of Bangladesh, Brazil, Ecuador, Egypt, India, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Morocco, Pakistan, Sweden, Turkey, Uganda and the United Kingdom - but the United Nations says that "honor" killings are on the rise and increasingly becoming a problem in more countries around the world. While it is reported that "honor" killings tend to be more prevalent in countries with a majority Muslim population, they are not limited to these countries and notable Islamic leaders have condemned the practice and say it has no religious basis.

Some people have made the claim that these killings are the only way to truly remove the shame brought on to families in certain societies and that the issue of "bringing dishonor to your family" means a lot more in other cultures than it does in ours, with the consequences of dishonor having more significant societal effects. In addition, many people blame Western influence for infringing on their traditional culture and changing the dynamic of male-female relations in a setting where women haven't yet gained true economic and social independence.

I understand the need to take cultural context into account when making judgments about international issues involving other people and their traditions and their ways of life - but in my opinion, there is NO context to justify these "honor" killings.

I'll leave you with two stories of "honor" killings that I came across which took place in Jordan:

1. Kifaya, a girl of 12, was intelligent and full of curiosity. But when she returned home one evening from a walk in the neighborhood with some friends, she was confronted by her enraged father. Shouting that she had dishonored the entire family, her father proceeded to beat Kifaya with sticks and iron chains until she was dead. He told police he killed his only daughter because she went for walks without his permission.

2. Another woman, Hanan, 34, was shot dead by her brother for the "crime" of marrying a Christian. Her brother left her body in the street and smoked a cigarette while he waited for the police to arrive.

There's no "honor" in that.