honour killings in canada

[FarhanYare]

Were Shafia murders ‘honour killings’ or domestic violence?

Published On Mon Jan 30 2012Email
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Zainab told workers at the Passages women's shelter that she was afraid of her father and that Hamed had been physically abusive.
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Stephanie Findlay

Staff Reporter









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Canadians are debating how to correctly describe the Shafia murders — is it domestic violence or honour killing?

The debate represents a fundamental divide in the way the Shafia trial is being interpreted.

Some, like Saleha Khan, board member of the London-based Muslim Resource Centre for Social Support and Integration, believe that domestic violence is the issue in this case.

“The essence is that it's the man's sense of control,” said Khan. “It's unfortunately something that could be anywhere,” she said.

“In certain communities, it will be called a crime of passion,” she said, “but for others it will be an honour killing.”

Many agree with her.

MP Rona Ambrose tweeted, “Honour motivated violence is NOT culture, it is barbaric violence against women. Canada must never tolerate such misogyny as culture.”

Similarly, Laura Babcock, president of Powergroup, a communications firm, tweeted, “Killing women and girls because they are female is femicide NOT Honor Killing.”

Yet others say the Shafia murders are honour killings.

“This is a real issue,” said Tarek Fatah, founder of the Muslim Canadian Congress, a non-profit advocacy group.

“Honour killing is the logical extreme of the belief that suggests men are the guardians,” he said.

Fatah says his concern is that Canadian political correctness is getting in the way of a frank discussion of the problem: that some Muslims consider women the possession of men.

“If these four women were white women, they would still be alive today,” he said.

“If a white student would go to the principal or the police and say they would be beaten up, no one would go to their parents and say ‘can you repeat what you said to us?' These girls went to the school, the cops, child services and everyone wanted to protect multiculturalism — not the lives of these young women,” Fatah said.

Semantics aside, most say the Superior Court's guilty verdict was the right one.

“This verdict sends a very clear message about our Canadian values and the core principles in a free and democratic society that all Canadians enjoy and even visitors to Canada enjoy,” said lead prosecutor Gerard Laarhuis outside court on Sunday.

“The government has realized that they should not entertain any defence with a strong honour crime theme,” said Amin Muhammad, a professor of psychiatry at Memorial University in St. John's and author of a Canadian study on honour killings, to the Montreal Gazette.

“They have treated this on par with any murder, and that's the beauty of this verdict.”

[salool]

Naagahan haday oo taag wayen ma iska dhaafan, why kill them and go to hell for it

[Hyperactive]

Naagahan haday oo taag wayen ma iska dhaafan, why kill them and go to hell for it

exactly! bal hada mahey faiden!!!

ma naag 3anbarkeeda la elalin kara!! Allah nama 7ojeeyo. ameen

[salool]

Hyper,taaga waxay is leyhiin ceebta familga ka saara, maxaa dhibay bal.Once a girl is 15 what she do is between her and Allah.If she dont listen to her parents iyada ayey aakhiro oo taala.

[FarhanYare]

Hyper,taaga waxay is leyhiin ceebta familga ka saara, maxaa dhibay bal.Once a girl is 15 what she do is between her and Allah.If she dont listen to her parents iyada ayey aakhiro oo taala.

its not as easy as you think once your daughter goes astray and starts dating ajnabi e.t.c you carry that shame with you and feel very disappointed but still it doesn't make it right for them to kill their daughters but just try to understand where they are coming from to have led them to commit such a terrible crime. me personally i would rather deport them back to motherland as soon as i become aware of what they are up to even that doesn't seem to work these days coz they immediately come back and might put you in jail..... i think the article is misleeding about the intial date the family arrived in canada it says 2007 wtf daaqsi mee ku ilbaxeen can be right.

[MrSinister]

The media and Canadian public delivered a guilty verdict before the trial even started. I don't think the shafia family got a fair trial.

[FarhanYare]

The media and Canadian public delivered a guilty verdict before the trial even started. I don't think the shafia family got a fair trial.

i agree

[Alphanumeric]

Hyper,taaga waxay is leyhiin ceebta familga ka saara, maxaa dhibay bal.Once a girl is 15 what she do is between her and Allah.If she dont listen to her parents iyada ayey aakhiro oo taala.

why 15?

[Lillaahiya]

^ I guess she means that's the age when most girls are sexually mature. Then again, kids now-a-days are sexually active at younger than 15.

[Keyblade]

this was in no way domestic violence. it was an honour killing plain and simple. absolutely disgusting too. killing your own daughter to protect your 'honour' smh.

[salool]

Hyper,taaga waxay is leyhiin ceebta familga ka saara, maxaa dhibay bal.Once a girl is 15 what she do is between her and Allah.If she dont listen to her parents iyada ayey aakhiro oo taala.

why 15?

Because you're an adult once you become 15 islamicly and ur sins will be writen.And as parent if you havent tought ur kids what is right and whats wrong by that age, it's to late.No need to cry over someone you neglected.

[salool]

Hyper,taaga waxay is leyhiin ceebta familga ka saara, maxaa dhibay bal.Once a girl is 15 what she do is between her and Allah.If she dont listen to her parents iyada ayey aakhiro oo taala.

its not as easy as you think once your daughter goes astray and starts dating ajnabi e.t.c you carry that shame with you and feel very disappointed but still it doesn't make it right for them to kill their daughters but just try to understand where they are coming from to have led them to commit such a terrible crime. me personally i would rather deport them back to motherland as soon as i become aware of what they are up to even that doesn't seem to work these days coz they immediately come back and might put you in jail..... i think the article is misleeding about the intial date the family arrived in canada it says 2007 wtf daaqsi mee ku ilbaxeen can be right.

What shame? if you did ur best and raised her well ,there is not much you can do but pray for her that Allah show her the right path.Qof nool lagama quusto cidna nabsi lagama galo, hadi kale caruurtada will pay the prise.

[Alphanumeric]

Hyper,taaga waxay is leyhiin ceebta familga ka saara, maxaa dhibay bal.Once a girl is 15 what she do is between her and Allah.If she dont listen to her parents iyada ayey aakhiro oo taala.

why 15?

Because you're an adult once you become 15 islamicly and ur sins will be writen.And as parent if you havent tought ur kids what is right and whats wrong by that age, it's to late.No need to cry over someone you neglected.

nope. it starts at the age of puberty. id say 10 is the average.

but i agree with rest.