HONOUR KILLING

This writing assignment was submitted for my Sociology 422 (Social Construction of Crime and Deviance) course in August 2010

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Honour killing; what is it, who are the victims, and why does it happen? And why is honour killing considered a crime in Canada? This essay will attempt to answer these questions and address the cultural source, and who the victims typically are.

All too often, Muslim women who chose to follow western ideologies rather than the oppressive Islamic culture are tortured, mutilated, and murdered by family members. Husband kill wives and daughters, brothers kill their sisters, and even whole family members conspire to kill a female member of the family, if that member rejects Islamic ideology (Ahmed et al., 2010, July 10).

In one case alone, in Kingston, Ontario, four Muslim daughter were killed by their family members, and only because these girls wanted to enjoy life as typical Canadian teenagers. They were killed all in the name of Islamic ideology (Geller, P., 2009, July 24).

Unfortunately Muslim immigrating to Canada also bring their religious and cultural beliefs with them. Even when they become Canadian citizens, the father continues to insist that their family abide by the Islamic patriarchal religious and cultural beliefs, especially concerning women. In one case, a mother stabbed her 18-year old daughter for coming home late after a night out with her friends. Fortunately, the daughter survived the knife attack (Hamilton, G., pp. A1, A4).

The mother was arrested and charged with attempted murder as well as assault, and was further ordered to undergo a psychiatric assessment to determine fitness for trial. The mother was also ordered not to contact the family. The children were apprehended under a family services protection order (Hamilton, G., pp. A1, A4).

Another tragic Canadian case of what was referred to as an honour killing took place in 2007, and was committed by both father and son. The victim was the father's 16-year old daughter. The father was so radically repressive, insisting that his daughter follow the strict Islamic Shari'a law pertaining to women. He would not allow her to have friends, a boyfriend, go out on the weekends, go out alone, or wear western style clothes. He wouldn't even allow her to have reasonable privacy in her own bedroom. Her bedroom was even reconstructed in such a way that both her parents and sisters could observe her every move. Her father further insisted that she wear the traditional Hijab (Humphreys, et al., pp. A1, A4, A5, 2010, June 16).

The first time she ran away from home, her father finally gave in and allowed her to wear western style clothes, but also told her that he'd kill her if she ran away again. Her sister had a watchful eye and always reported what she was doing to her father. Again, she ran away from home, and refused to come back. She also rejected the arranged marriage her father set up. One day while waiting for the bus with a friend, her brother drove up in a van, she told her friend that she'd be right back and approached the van to talk to her brother. The next day both her father and brother were arrested and charged with her murder. They had taken her home and strangled her in her bedroom. Both father and son pled guilty to second degree murder and were given an automatic life sentence. The horror of this story, just as in the honour killing of the four daughters, the whole family supported both father and son, and one female sibling expressed that her father and brother should not go to prison (Humphreys, et al., pp. A1, A4, A5, 2010, June 16).

As this essay has shown that honour killing is when one family member kills another family member for dishonoring their culture and family values, such as the way the victim dresses, or for dating someone the family does not approve of. Typically, it is either the father or mother who carry out the honour killing, and typically it is the daughter who is the victim. However, honour killings have been committed by other family members, such as a sibling, aunt, uncle, or even cousin. In other words, honour killings are typically committed by a family member, and females are for the most part victims. Honour killing, for the most part, takes place within the Islamic culture and is supported by the Islamic Shari'a Law.

Although in an Islamic country, the Shari'a law makes it legal to commit honour killings, that is not so in countries such as Canada and the United States of America. However, the scope of this essay will only address why honour killing is not legal within the Canadian and United Nations context. In Canada, legislation such as the criminal code make it a criminal offence to assault and or murder another person. The Canadian Charter of Rights expresses that every one under the law has a right to freedom, including religious freedom and that every one is equal and has equal protection. Under the Canadian Human Rights Act, discrimination is also unlawful. The United Nations Declaration of Human Rights further parallels the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Furthermore, the women's rights movement within the Canadian context gave women more freedom so that they would no longer be subjected to an archaic patriarchal system. Now I'm not saying that the patriarchal system is wrong, but when the head of the household in any patriarchal system is abusive, the rights of all, especially women will be trampled on. The same could be said of a government who's leader is abusive and corrupt. In fact, any system that has archaic and corrupt laws, trample on the rights of all in an extremely radical oppressive way, especially the rights of women and religion.

REFERENCES

Ahmed, L., Geller, P. (2010, July 10). Islam's War on Muslim Mothers, Daughters, Sisters. http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/honor_killings/

Geller, P. (2009, July 24). Honor Killing of Four Muslim Girls. http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2009/07/more-on-thecanada-honor-killings-of-four-muslim-girls-in-canadathe-girls-were-not-allowed-to-go-out-.html

Hamilton, G. (2010, June 15). Police Charge Montreal Mother in 'Crime of Honour'. National Post, pp. A1, A4.

Humphreys, A., O'Toole, M., Wallace, K. (2010, June 16). Father, Son Strangled Teen Girl. National Post, pp. A1, A4, A5.

Proudfoot, S. (2009, July 23). Rise in Canadian 'Honour Killings' Should Not Be Ignored: Expert. Canwest News Service. http://www.nationalpost.com/story.html?id=1821919