The Practice of Honor Killing - Report Example

The Practice of “Honor Killing” In some Eastern and Arab societies, when a woman commits, or just accused of committing, adultery, her family starts to think of ways to get rid of her through killing. Honor killing of women can be executed because of a variety of reasons that range from very trivial acts, such as flirting, to very serious acts, such as adultery. As argued by many analysts, causes of the phenomenon of honor killings in Arab families include “marital infidelity, pre-marital sex, flirting, or even failing to serve a meal on time can all be perceived as impugning the family honor” (Mayell). A noticeable fact about honor killing is that it entails an ethical dilemma, as it enroots discrimination against women. While the man who shares the girl in the sin of adultery may not be accused of anything, the woman is the one who pays the whole bill, as she can lose her life as a result of this sin. This reflects the different and unequal views with which Arabs look at both girls and boys. Since their early ages, girls learn that they are inferior in status than boys. The way the Arab family treats boys and girls shows that boy are elevated to a high degree, while girls hold a low status. Since their early childhood, Arab girls, especially in rural areas, are forced to serve their brothers and obey the male members in the family. Hence, most Arab societies are doomed by the culture that boys are the elevated members in the family, while girls are lower in status. This spirit of inferiority of girls and women move from generation to another, increasing womens sufferings in Arab societies. As Arab girls turn older, they face more serious forms of discrimination and inequality. While any crime or sin that may be committed by men may be forgivable by the family, any sin that is committed by girls is usually unforgettable. When this sin is adultery, the punishment can be as serious as killing, especially in rural areas. Astonishingly, this murder of the girl because of her sin is always considered a private matter that should be dealt within the family itself alone. So, in many cases, these crimes of honor killing are not reported to police authorities, and so, the killer in most cases is not penalized. Even if a case of honor killing goes to court, the killer is usually punished by few years in prison. This proves that even the legal system in some Arab countries give justification for the male member in the society to kill the woman who committed adultery. The spread of the problem of honor killing in Arab societies is related to the psychological and social interpretations of women in these societies. In these societies, the woman is just a sex object and a vessel that bears the dignity of the family. So, if this vessel is corrupted through the sin of adultery, the male members in the society decide to get rid of her. An attempt to understand the logic behind the concept of honor killing in any society, As argued by many anthropologists from the Arab world, “most honor killings occur in countries where the concept of women as a vessel of the family reputation predominates” (Mayell). In primitive and poor communities, such as upper Egypt, men look at women as the ones who bear of the family dignity, and so, any acts that harm this dignity is intolerable. This cultural notion leads many families to kill women to purify their reputation and dignity. In this context, it has to be said that the phenomenon of honor killing in Arab societies is mostly derived from culture, not any other source, such as religion. It is culturally inherited from generation to another in Arabia, in enforcement of the culture of male domination and womens inferiority in the Arab world. There are various cases and examples from Arab countries, in which women are severely punished by their families for the sexual sin they committed. For example, in Egypt, there is the case of Nora Marzouk Ahmed, who was killed by her father, Khaled Al-Qudra, in 1997. This sin is always committed with extreme violence and lack of mercy. In the case of Nora, her father "cut her head off, seven days after she eloped” (Flattum,). Thus, in most cases, the killer of the woman who committed the sin of adultery is usually the closest male relative, such as father, brother, or uncle. Beside Egypt, there are also various other Arab countries, which witness severe cases of honor killing of women. For instance, statistics show that in Jordan, “there are about 25 honor killings a year, a quarter of the countrys homicides. Its an ancient custom and it took a woman reporter for the Jordan Times, Rana Husseini, to be the first to break the story of honor killing to the world” (Flattum). Consequently, honor killing is a negative social phenomenon that is spread heavily in many Arab communities, especially rural and poor areas. The severity of the phenomenon of honor killing in some societies can be seen in the trivial causes, because of which a woman may be killed to protect the dignity of the family. Adultery is not the only sin that may cause a woman to be murdered by her male family members. Rather, the causes may be trivial and weird. For instance, Amnesty International Organization reported about one case of honor killing in which “a husband murdered his wife based on a dream that she had betrayed him." In addition, Turkey also witnessed a weird case of honor killing, where "a young womans throat was slit in the town square because a love ballad had been dedicated to her over the radio” (Mayell). Therefore, a woman may be killed because of events that they may not be responsible for. The social phenomenon of honor killing is strongly connected to the prevailing culture of male domination and authority in Arab communities. There is a strong willingness among Arab men to possess power over women in their families. In Egypt, for instance, a certain form of male domination towards women is represented in the sexual harassment performed against girls and women by men, in various places, including streets, , education facilities, and work place. In that sense, harassment is a tool for a man to exert his power over a girl, giving himself the right to prove his masculinity through filtration and sexual harassment (Nawa). Despite the fact that sexual harassment that is practiced by men against women in many Arab countries usually does not involve extreme violence, there are some cases, where girls and women are harassed violently by men or even raped by them. In that sense, sexual harassment is considered one of the severe cases of discrimination against women in many Arab countries. These cases of sexual harassments, which involve violence and rape, may end up with the act of honor killing practiced by the family of the woman who was raped. There is recently a new TV series, which is entitled a Public Cause and starred by Youssra, depicting the role of a raped woman. In this TV series, another girl, from upper Egypt origins, is raped, and so, she was treated violently by her brother, who though of killing her to get rid of the shame that is caused by the incident of rape. This proves that honor killing is sometimes committed because of the case of rape to which the girl or woman is subjected to. In such case, she is totally not responsible for what happened to her, and so, it is unfair to be killed as a punishment for a sin that she has nothing to do with. Therefore, the practice of the phenomenon of honor killing is usually rooted in to culture, tradition, and social habits. Because culture is usually difficult to change, it is extremely hard to try to stop this habit of honor killing, because it is deeply rooted in some communities, and cannot be easily changed. This difficulty of changing the phenomenon of honor killing in Arab societies led many analysts to adopt pessimistic views, arguing that “nothing can be done to halt the practice because the concept of womens rights is not culturally relevant to deeply patriarchal societies” (Mayell, Hillary). It needs a great effort to be exerted by the government and media to try to change this negative social habit and end it in all communities, including rural and poor ones. To conclude, the phenomenon of honor killing embodies the suffering that Eastern and Arab women suffer in their societies. It is the climax of the violence that can be practiced against women in such societies. This phenomenon reflects the humiliating look with which men look at women in Eastern and Arab families. Accordingly, non-governmental organizations and governments should exert every possible effort to end or at least lessen this habit in societies. Bibliography Flattum, Jerry. “Honor killing demands global response.” 29 Jan. 1999. 12 Dec. 2011. Mayell, Hillary. “Thousands of Women Killed for Family "Honor." 12 Feb. 2002. 12 Dec. 2011. Fariba, Nawa. “Street Hassle.” 12 Dec. 2011. “The Mosques at last Proclaim a Womans Right to Live.” The Economist. 21 Feb. 2004. 12 Dec. 2011. Vol. 370 Issue 8363, p50. Read More