**photo is NOT mine. It is from an article written by The Pamir Times**
Hi everyone,
Hope you are enjoying the Easter Weekend!
Today’s post is just a short bit about honour killings- I didn’t know much about them so it was really interesting to find out more, but also really sad to read some of the stories 😦
Honour killings (they are also known as shame killings) are basically when a family member, or a member of a specific community is killed because it is believed that they have brought shame on their family/community. By killing them, it frees the family of shame, as if they have removed the sin from themselves. But, most of these people are Muslims. And in Islam, killing somebody is a big big big sin. BIG SIN. But, for the millionth time, these people are wayyyy more interested in culture than their religion.
Female relatives are usually killed because of marital-related issues. By this I mean that they have gone against their family’s wishes and married a boy of their own choice (ie. gone against their forced marriage). In one of the stories I read she had eloped, and her father and brother had contacted her after, saying that she should come and visit her family. She went back and was sadly killed. According to Wikipedia “Over 4,000 cases were reported in Pakistan between 1998 and 2004. Of the victims, almost 2,700 were women and just over 1,300 were men”. Other causes of being killed include dressing immodestly, being a victim of rape and many others.
What I was surprised about was how many countries honour killings occur in. Aside from Pakistan, they also occur in the UK, Iran, Italy, Greece, Canada, Australia and Sweden. They also occur in many countries in Latin America, and for some reason there they are known as “acts of passion”. It was ridiculous to find out that so many countries are allowing this types of killings to occur! Why is nothing being done? Why are there not more protests, and posters, and awareness campaigns?
It should be noted that although a lot of countries are really doing nothing, certain countries (eg. in Northern Europe) are helping to provide a growing number of counselling and protection services for the women who are at risk.
This post is fairly short, but I wanted to just summarize and hear your opinions on this topic. Are honour killings a common problem in your country or country of origin? Do you hear a lot about them, and do you think the government should raise awareness? Let me know in the comments!
Stay fresh,
Minty xo
April 14, 2017 at 6:03 pm
Most of such killings and cases of domestic violences are passed of as ‘family issues’ and no one interferes or complaints about it. Also, only a certain percentage of such acts come out in the open. I completely agree with you that this issue should not be allowed to thrive and should be definitely taken up by the government.
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April 14, 2017 at 7:30 pm
I completely agree with this, and it’s so sad that people don’t interfere- the government needs to take notice! Thanks so much for reading and voicing your opinion x
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April 14, 2017 at 7:42 pm
Glad to express my views. Thank you for writing about such a relevant topic.
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April 14, 2017 at 8:11 pm
Thanks so much!
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April 14, 2017 at 6:44 pm
The reason I feel no one is interested in this is because honestly it doesn’t surprise most people – westerners see Muslims as untamed savages and its only once you prove them wrong that they stand by you.
Over in America, we have a Muslim running for governor of the U.S. state of Michigan and he’s been proving his entire state wrong about how Muslims are – now that’s what I call standing up!
Alas though, these honor killings should be talked about. This is something I could see in Pakistan as well, they fail alot. But in Europe and Canada? That’s when you know we messed up
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April 14, 2017 at 7:34 pm
100% agree- it was shocking that honour killings occur in a lot of the western countries, because surely the government in those countries are far more stable than say in Pakistan or Iran, and so would take action immediately. It’s so nice to see Muslims in America trying to undo all the damage Trump has done, and trying to spread peace amongst the Islamophobia. Thank you so much for taking the time to read this post! x
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April 15, 2017 at 2:30 am
This is a great blog post. Honor killings are such a big problem in Pakistan. I saw a really great documentary on this topic by Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy called A Girl in the River: the Price of Forgiveness. I think you will find it interesting
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April 15, 2017 at 9:31 am
Thanks so much, and that sounds really- will check it out now!
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April 15, 2017 at 10:46 am
*really good 🙂
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April 15, 2017 at 1:14 pm
You are really brave to post about such horrific and sensitive topics. Too many bad things happen in the world today and we need to conquer them by standing together. Thanks for sharing this, I learnt a lot from it.
Gracie ❤️
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April 15, 2017 at 3:25 pm
This means so much, and I’m so glad that you learned something- that’s really the main objective for me xx
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April 15, 2017 at 4:33 pm
Always my pleasure!
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April 17, 2017 at 2:06 pm
New blogger here! I appreciate the serious subject of your post.
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April 17, 2017 at 2:37 pm
Thanks so much- I’ll check out your blog!
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April 17, 2017 at 6:58 pm
Honour killings aren’t really a concern here in Ireland but I’ve read a lot about them and everything about them from the deeds themselves to the culture of silence around it absolutely horrifies me… I hope this gets dragged out into the light and that a stop is put to it soon, because there’s no call for that sort of thing. Not ever.
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April 17, 2017 at 7:17 pm
I hope so too and in this case, the silence really does speak volumes.
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May 9, 2017 at 12:09 pm
Honor killings happen in my country Egypt, but not against a family member; on the contrary, they usually happen against a person who insult another person’s honor. I guess this was common practice among all nations world wide till late 19th century. You can always see them in movies depicting that era. The problem occurs when the family of the killed seeks revenge; hence the problem escalates, and more people die in the process without committing any crime.
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May 9, 2017 at 4:04 pm
Wow I didn’t know that! It’s sad that people feel the need to turn to violence instead of taking ownership of their actions. Thank you for taking the time to read my post!
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