Around the world there are many situations that the human race has to deal with and one of them is honor killings. This is an issue that has not been completely touched upon because it is not and an issue that everyone gets to see. The main idea is to understand what an honor killing is and what’s its status around the world but specifically to the country that is Pakistan. One main point that should be remembered is that it is all based off of tradition and not religion.
A honor killing is a violent action towards a person that has brought shame or dishonor to their family (What Is Honor Killing). Honor killings can be considered to be an awful crime or a tradition that a small community can have. These crimes are usually directed toward women. This also happens in countries where women’s reputation predominates overall (Thousands of Women Killed for Family "Honor"). In addition, although honor killings involve murder most of the time there are numerous ways of correcting a woman. For example there is torture, physical abuse, acid burning, stoning, being burned alive, and strangulation. These all fall under the category of honor killings because to an extent they can take a life. Also this is just a small amount of actions that have been taken upon women for their punishment. When it comes down to abuse there has mainly been sexual abuse, which then leads to women having to commit suicide because they must restore the honor to their family. When some women decide not to take their own lives some families decide to do it themselves and murder their daughters. The reason being is that they really believe that getting rid of their daughter, the honor of their family will truly be restored. This also proves that honor killings are...
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...is no education given to them. It takes a small step to change what is happening to these women especially because it is a cultural tradition and not an act based off of religion.
Works Cited
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"Thousands of Women Killed for Family "Honor"" National Geographic. National Geographic Society, n.d. Web. 17 Nov. 2013.
"Three Women Shot Dead in Pakistan 'honour' Killing." Fox News. FOX News Network, n.d. Web. 17 Nov. 2013.
"What Is Honor Killing, Honour Killing in India, America, US, It's Statistics." What Is Honor Killing, Honour Killing in India, America, US, It's Statistics. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Nov. 2013.
Malala Yousafzai, a young Pakistani girl, was shot and wounded by the Taliban. At eleven years old, Malala, and all other Pakistani women were told they could no longer receive any sort of education. Malala would not remain quiet, she wanted to be taught, and she made sure everyone knew the cruelty of the situation. On October 8, as Malala and many other children were riding a bus home, the bus was stopped by a masked Taliban gunman who shot Malala in the head and neck. Malala survived the shot and even wrote a book later on. This situation is much like what some of the characters in Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird, and Rebecca Skloot’s The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, go through. Lee and Skloot demonstrate that restriction from society and others leads to injustice.
Rumors spread to Najmah that “woman wearing henna on their fingertips had their fingers chopped off”(Staples 12). When Najmah heard the clink of bangles under a woman’s burqa and the click of her heels on the pavement, the sound created an unsettling sensation within her. Suddenly, Najmah recalled how the “Taliban would whip women whose shoes made a sound on paving stones (Staples 180).” She wanted to warn the woman, for her mother had told her that “women risk their lives by hiding their jewelry” (Staples 180). As for Nusrat, notwithstanding the fact that she just moved to Pakistan not long ago, she was extremely vigilant and prudent when the Taliban was around. One time, a servant of Nusrat’s disappeared. Nusrat sent someone to search for her and discovered that “she had been badly beaten and was held without charges” (Staples 99). From this incident, the unfair treatment towards women helped Nusrat to learn more about the Taliban’s rules in Pakistan. Given the facts above, it is very apparent that Taliban’s cruelty toward women is depicted precisely and vividly through the different stories of two
“Friend by Day, Enemy by Night” shares an in depth look into the lives of the Kohistanis who live in Thull, Pakistan. The author of the text, Lincoln Keiser, goes into great depth in explaining the life of these people before and after mar dushmani. Mar dushmani can be directly translated as “death enmity.” This social relationship between the Kohistanis causes for many problems. As a general principle death enmity allows men to retaliate whenever another man wrongs them, though the act of revenge itself should not exceed the original wrong. The example stated in the book is, “a blow should answer a blow and a death answer a death.” For such offenses as attacks on men through their wives, sisters, and daughters retaliation usually occurs in deadly violence. Killing the offender is considered the most appropriate response. Although violence usually takes place during retaliation, it is not the only way to handle it.
O'Neill, Laurie A.. Chapter 8: The Massacre. The Millbrook Press, 1993. eLibrary. Web. 23 Dec. 2013.
Women in America do not have to worry about a terrorist group coming and taking their rights away. They have a government that protects them from these groups and makes sure they have the same rights as others. In the Middle East, especially Afghanistan and Pakistan, women are scared to speak too loudly. These women live in fear each day of their lives because if they make one small mistake it could mean their life. Yet, there are some people who are fighting for women’s rights, especially women’s education. Malala Yousafzai is a girl who fought for women’s education. At the age of eleven, Malala began writing a blog for BBC Urdu. The blog described how she was upset that women’s education under the Taliban would be forced to stop. Malala also appeared on national television talking about women’s education. She has become a symbol of resistance against the Taliban. Even after Malala was put on the Taliban’s hit list, she continues to speak out about what she felt needed to be said. Malala would give her life for this cause, and she almost did. On October 9, 2012, Malala was on her way home from her morning classes when a man walked on to her bus and asked, “Who is Malala”. When she said it was her he shot her. The bullets hit her head and her leg. The Taliban ordered for her to be shot because she was promoting western culture in Pashtun areas. In another case Mukhtar Mai stood up for women’s rights and was sexually assaulted by multiple men with orders from the tribal council. The tradition in Mukhtar’s tribe was that a woman who is sexually assaulted by multiple men should kill herself, but instead of committing suicide she fought for her cause (Samira 28-30). Although the Taliban restricts women’s education for religious reaso...
2.) National Research Council. Understanding Violence Against Women, Washington, DC: National Academy of Press. 1996.
“The United Nations estimates that as many as 5,000 women and girls worldwide were killed last year by family members” (Autumn, 2001). Crimes of ‘honor’ are acts of violence perpetuated typically against women who violate broader cultural standards against sexuality and marriage. When a woman violates the sexual or marital standards within a culture, her actions bring shame and dishonor and in order to eliminate the dishonor within the family, killing is the only way. “Honor killings focus on maintaining the sexual exclusiveness of women” (Barker et al, 1999). In most of the cases, honor killings are mostly present in cultures of the South Asian and Middle Eastern Islamic areas. Sadly, this culture is prevalent in some parts of the Indian society as well. “Offenses leading to ‘honor’ killings include leaving home without permission, rumors about premarital loss of virginity, accusations of flirting, and illegitimate sexual contact. These accusations also do not require the consent of the female in the act. Rape victims, for instance,...
Kirk, Gwyn, and Margo Okazawa-Rey. "Violence Against Women." Women's Lives: Multicultural Perspectives. 5th ed. Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill, 2004. 263-64. Print.
Harrison, Brigid C. “Death to Capital Punishment.” The New York Times, Late Edition. New York, New York: Dec. 2, 2007. Print.
... did not have a history of troubled behavior or personal connection to the victim, were capable of being involved in such a random, yet passionate act of violence. Virk was a ‘punching bag’ for the internal anxiety or frustration these girls faced, which essentially leads back to parent’s inability to detect these issues and societies failure to provide support for these girls. The autopsy reports showed that Virk would have most likely died solely from her head injuries from the severe beating she took, essentially making every person present that night underneath the bridge responsible for Virk’s death. Although female violence has been on the rise, the media did play an essential role in creating fear of female violence in Canada. While the story of the murder of Reena Virk is both ruthless and alarming, not many similar cases have occurred in the past 17 years.
Bacha Bazi is a very popular form of child abuse. Bacha Bazi is when men kidnap young men and dress them up as women and force them to dance at parties and big events as a source of entertainment. After the event, the young men are taken home with the older men and are raped. The effect on the men committing the crime is very minimal. These criminals still practice and spread Islam without any regret or problem as if nothing is even occurring. Because Bacha Bazi is so common, most of the male population in the Middle East live with psychological scars due to sexual abuse as a child. As many as 50 percent of men in Afghanistan take young men as lovers. Bacha Bazi is usually performed in secret to avoid any type of punishment. The government understands that it is happening but fail to do anything about it due to the citizens beliefs and religions. The eldest citizens are defending their belief that it has occurred for centuries, and they are completely accustomed to it so why would they change it? But Bacha Bazi is not the only abuse occurring. (Mondloch)
“Violence Against Women, A Majority Staff Report,” Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate, 102nd Congress, October 1992, p.3.
In today’s globalized world, women’s studies is emerging as a fast growing discipline which is not restricted any more to the academia but is significantly capturing the attention of the civil society. The way civil society responded to “Nirbhaya” gang-rape case of December, 2012 in Delhi; the way people came on the streets in protest against this horrific and barbarous crime committed against a 23 year old woman; this people’s movement has undoubtedly engineered the emergence of a new consciousness among us about the need for a realization of women’s honour and dignity in the society. There have been serious debates on the issue of whether more stringent laws (in the line of Shari’a law) be implemented in our Indian society so that such heinous crimes against women can be prevented. However, the aforesaid incident is only one among many hundred other such crimes happening everyday in almost every corner of the globe. Many such incidents of crime are either suppressed or do not come to limelight. The following analysis is a humble attempt to deal with the status of women (especially in Islam) in a globalized world.
Amanda Hitchcock. 2001. “Rising Number of Dowry Deaths in India.” Annual Editions: Anthropology 11/12, 34th Edition. Elvio Angeloni. New York: McGraw-Hill Higher Education.
Violence against women (VAW) is now considered and recognized as a public health predicament and a human rights infringement of a worldwide scale and force (Ono, 2013; Raj & Silverman, 2002). Research evidence exists for it serving as a crucial social determinant of health and its resulting vast and damaging impact on physical and mental health for women in Canada (Sharma, 2001). Violence as a concept includes diverse forms of abuse that are directed at women and girls across their lifetime. One critical category or form of violence against women is domestic violence. For the purpose of this paper terms violence against women and domestic violence will be used interchangeably. Domestic violence has been recognized as a critical social problem