Fatima Mernissi explains the relationship between money and female sexuality (11). Nawal El Saadavi (12) an Egyptian scholar, states that "a man's honor remains safe as long as the female members of the family keep their hymens intact.
Lama Abu-Odeh an Arab scholar emphasizes the anthropological and socio-legal implication of such crimes in Arab society and makes a clear distinction between honor and passion crimes (13).
1999 saw coverage of honor-passion crimes by international media-BBC, CNN, NBC, NY Times, Washington Post and Guardian of London and an impression was left that these crimes occurred only in Muslim countries. 90 % of such crimes are reported from Muslim countries.
Muslims are emotionally hurt by the coverage and do not have strong arguments to refute such reports. Non Muslims tend to attribute the crimes to "veiled, segregated, uneducated and oppressed majority of Muslim women”. Muslims assert that it has nothing to do with Islam (14).
Honor related crimes occur across class, caste and ethnic groups among Muslims. The most "celebrated" case was that of "death of a princess" a BBC documentary of the execution of a Saudi princess and her lover, with a trial in Shariah court as ordained by Islam (15). CNN reported on how a brother stabbed his "fallen" sister to death and invited villagers to watch the murder (16).
Even among educated families a bride is expected to be a virgin. If not, they get gynecologists perform surgical restoration of the hymen. Girls are sometimes killed on mere suspicion of loss of virginity. 95 % of girls killed in Jordan had no sexual relations at all.
The number of reported murders are no where near the actual number.
Rim Zahara of Syria d-Women's International Net 24 B 1999-8) highlights the dual standards of sexuality for men and women in Syria (17). The practice of hymen repair is also common in Iraq. In Turkey honor killers are very highly regarded in prison. In the penal code bodies and sexuality belongs to their husbands, families and communities.
In Iran situation has worsened since the advent of the theocratic state in 1979.
ABC night line Feb 16/1999 elicited this reaction from an American, "I saw the true face of Islam (18)." Muslim reaction to such remarks is very bitter.
In March 2000, BBC aired a documentary on honor killings and followed up with interviews with Muslims. The general impression by interviewees was that honor killing was permissible in Islam ( Moulvi Ghafoor, Naib-deputy Amir of Jamaat Islami the leading religious party of Pakistan, told a press conference that Honor killing was Islamic (19).
People of Pakistan, Jordan and Turkey are generally very hostile to HR workers, journalists and lawyers for daring to expose such crimes (in the USA expatriate community behaves much in the same way) calling the activists as agents of Judeo-Christian forces.
Daughters and sisters in European countries have been murdered for wanting to marry a man of their choice and for rejecting arranged marriages (20). One was killed in Canada for refusing to wear Hijab. (One subterfuge is to take girls to "home countries" for a visit and force them to marry in the clan. Neighbors, police and administration aid and abet the perpetrators. Examples are numerous).
Informants prefer to remain anonymous. (Rape is rampant in jails, police stations, military hospitals, feudal, tribal chief's houses in Pakistan). Survivors of outrages did not want to mention their real names.
Dr. S. Akhtar Ehtisham
(607) 776-3336
P.O. Box 469,
Bath NY 14810
USA
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