It is a problem that is spread across the Islamic world like a dreaded disease. And turkey is no stranger to the inhuman concept of honor killings.
The killing of women and girls by male relatives who think the females have brought shame upon the family’s honor is an atrocity that has plagued Turkey and other Islamic countries for generations. Thousands of women are forced to kill themselves or their slayings are disguised to look self-inflicted in these so-called honor killings.
A significant segment of the Turkish population defines all-important honor in terms of the chastity and obedience of each female member of a family. As “owners” of women, men must defend honor by safeguarding their bodies and sexuality.
A woman who is raped is often blamed for the crime and faces punishment, even death, at the hands of her relatives. Sometimes she is given the “option” of marrying her rapist.
A poll conducted by the U N last year, reported that 17 percent of Turkish men approved of honor killing. The figure isn’t that overwhelming but he fact that many more approved of lesser punishments, one of the most common being the slicing off of a woman’s nose, puts everything back into perspective as we realize the extent of the hopelessness that Turkish women live with.
And though there are laws in place to check these crimes of violence against women, even the courts sometimes show considerable approval of this male-chauvinistic point of view. As recently as 10 months ago, in a typical case, the life sentence of a young man who had killed his sister was substantially reduced because the judges decided he had been “provoked.” He had buried her up to her neck in rocks after she was impregnated in a rape.
However there is some hope in store. The Turkish government is moving into gear. Eager to win approval from the European Union and under pressure from a vigorous women’s movement, the government has launched a major campaign against honor killings, at a level and breadth virtually unheard of in the Islamic world.
The nation’s top Islamic authority has declared honor killing a sin. Addressing a topic that remains largely taboo in many conservative societies, Turkish imams have joined pop music stars and soccer celebrities to produce TV spots and billboard ads condemning all forms of violence against women.
Late last year, jail sentences for men and boys who commit the crime were stiffened, and new provisions in the penal code make it harder for a court to reduce sentences.
In cities and towns with the highest honor-killing rates, rescue teams and hot lines are being set up for women and girls in peril as officials work with advocacy groups and hold town hall meetings.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan heads a conservative, Islamist-rooted party. But he has argued for better treatment of women and to condemn honor killings as a scourge that must be eradicated from Islamic societies.
Addressing a gathering of the Organization of the Islamic Conference in November, he said:
We can say these murders are isolated incidents, yet we cannot turn a blind eye to such inhuman acts that are largely the product of ignorance. Discrimination against women is worse than racism. We must reject the treatment of women as second-class beings.
However, the challenge before him is enormous as he has to fight archaic customs based not so much on religion as on deep-seated tradition and feudal clan systems.
Specialists, social workers, and officials involved with the campaign speak of a new era of openness and willingness to confront the problem, but they caution that it will be a long time before attitudes are changed. Advocates say they now better geared for the fight, even though there is no indication yet that the number of killings or forced suicides has dropped.
Fatma Sahin, a lawmaker with the ruling party who oversaw the drafting of a 300-page report on honor killings, says:
On paper, we seem to have achieved a lot. But when we go out into the field, we recognize that a lot more needs to be done.
Alarmed by the soaring number of women seeking help, the government of Diyarbakir opened a shelter for abused women in 2005.
Its location is kept under cover. Behind a metal gate on the forlorn northern outskirts of the city, the low-slung complex houses about 50 women.
Threatening attitudes still persist in many segments of the Turkish population, especially in the Kurdish southeast, but local activism on behalf of women is flourishing.
Canan Hancer Basturk, deputy governor of Diyarbakir sees hope:
This is a part of the country where it is not accepted that women work or travel, where they are not valued as individuals. But girls see the other side, modern Turkey, on TV or in the media, and with the rise in literacy, people’s expectations are rising.
Even though the campaign might have been fuelled by the bid to join the EU, let’s hope it brings relief to the long suffering women of turkey and that the situation improves for women in the rest of the Islamic world as well.
Via: Netscape
