Du'a Khalil Aswad, the 17 year old Yezidi Kurdish girl was murdered by stoning to death for the so-called honour killing on or around 7 April 2007, according to a public statement by the Amnesty International on 27 April 2007. Honour killing is not new and it is not limited to a certain ethnicity, nationality, religion or region, but it has been practised in many parts of the world. It is apparent that these kinds of killings are widely practiced in Eastern and especially Muslim communities; however, there are evidences of other cultures such as Sikh and recently Yezidi religion.

The case of Du'a was one of the cruelest killings of this kind as she was stoned to death by a group of eight or nine men, according to Amnesty International, at the presence of a huge crowd of hundreds of people in the town of Bashika, near the city of Mosul. However, the video film which was widely published on the internet and the wide media reactions to this brutal killing, made it to look as a unique crime which have never been heard about it before. The bitter reality is that this crime is not unique as there are many crimes which go under carpet because there is nobody to film it or report it. Nowadays, at the age of information and globalization, technology and media can reach many remote parts of the world, people may hear or see things that otherwise they could not hear about it at all, or at least until few years later.  The Amnesty International declares that:   

There are frequent reports of "honour crimes" in Iraq - in particular in the predominantly Kurdish north of the country. Most victims of "honour crimes" are women and girls who are considered by their male relatives and others to have shamed the women's families by immoral behaviour. Often grounds for such accusations are flimsy and no more than rumour.

These kinds of crimes have deep roots in our culture, in our way of thinking, in our relationship with women and in our general view of the role of women in the society. It can be argued that, there is no one single reason for them or one single group, religion or ethnicity which can be held responsible for such crimes. It is a notion of power and control from men over women. Geraldine Bedell, in an article published in the Guardian, Sunday 21 November 2004, states that:

There is a deeply embedded notion in our culture that men experience passion, while women excite it - which meant that, until recently in Britain, men who killed their wives could claim provocation.  There is also a common idea that it is possible to own another human being. 

Although, nowadays many good people condemn these acts, however the unjust treatment of women by men is still widely accepted. There are few women and girls who revolt against the norms of the traditional society, otherwise the outcome could be much more. This could be now more widened because of the imbalance development of the information technology which does not come in line with the traditions of some communities. To be more specific, satellite dishes and internet connections reach every corner of the globe; however, the other necessities of economic, cultural, educational and social development remain as they were decades ago. This imbalance development may bring clashes between people or generations, and may stimulate acts which are not accepted by the traditional society and cause chaotic incidents.  At the same time, women are also responsible for a great deal of these acts. Women were supporters, whistleblowers or even perpetrators in many occasions. Aisha Gill of the University of Surrey noted, from her work experience with South Asian women, that ‘female loyalty to honour-related violence is deemed to be a sign of warmth and goodness.  Women in particular are brought up to believe that the welfare of the group should take precedence over that of the individual'. Although this view is about the South Asian women but it exactly fits the position of the Kurdish women in the traditional society also. Bedell argues that honour killing is about the position of women in the society in general:

Honour killing is not about one woman, or about 10, it is about an entire gender," Diana Nammi says.  "What honour killing does is to make women's lives conditional - on wearing the right clothes, on not speaking too loudly, on not being seen with the wrong person, not even being the subject of rumour, for rumour is enough to stain the family's honour.

Honour killing is mostly accepted by the community, or at least by the majority of members of that community as a ‘collective decision' on those women who violate the traditional values of their community. Many states, openly or tacitly may sanction honour killing, however they may close an eye on the act, as Bedell mentioned:

   The Turkish penal code has no specific clause relating to honour killing, but the judiciary commonly hands down lesser sentences or even acquittals where there is "assault on a family member's manhood." The Jordanian penal code specifically accepts that the "purifying" of wrong to a tribe is necessary: when honour killings come to court (which they do infrequently), the sentence averages about 6 months. 

In The Kurdish region of Iraq, it can be argued that there are many developments and many respectful people have been working to eradicate honour killing and to abolish such an excuse and make murder the only word for killing a human being, no matter be a male or female. However, as Amnesty International reported, ‘while the Kurdish authorities introduced legal reforms to address "honour killings" they have, however, failed to investigate and prosecute those responsible for such crimes'.  The reason is that legislation and law are not sufficient and there are much to be done in order to change the mentality of the legislators, politicians, leaders, police and the wider community towards women's position in the society. In this respect, it can be argued that the problem of honour killing is the responsibility of us all. We are all guilty for the deliberate killings of women and girls as long as it finds grounds in the society and we cannot do something about it. The victims of honour killings, even in the Western societies rarely receive the justice they deserve:

What is it about the power of shame that drives a father, brother, even a mother to slaughter a close family member?  In the UK alone, 117 murders are being investigated as "honour killings."  But over-sensitivity to cultural differences means that many victims are denied the justice that they deserve.

It is virtually impossible to estimate the international scale of honour killings; the UN has estimated as 5000 cases a year, however, there are so many cases go unreported or unregistered. Bedell continues to comment on honour killings as part of an international injustice against women, by saying that:

Honour killings are, clearly, specific to certain communities.  But not so long ago, British women could be locked in mental asylums for getting pregnant out of wedlock; in living memory in the UK, it was preferable to have a daughter who was mad than one who was bad.

However, these reports and not brought here for making an excuse for honour killing and making it more acceptable and normalizing it. The aim behind it is that honour killing cannot be eradicated by legislations or campaigns only. It is a social construction that, unfortunately, supported by many people, despite the wider condemnation of a single brutal killing which is filmed and published. Honour killing should be eradicated in the mentality of our children, in the daily routine of our young girls and boys and in the streets, markets and neighbourhoods, through better education and teaching the principles of a civilised society. If we only react to a video film or a brutal killing and neglect the daily incidents which indicate that there are grounds for such acts, we cannot learn any lessons from any honour murder, including Du'a's. Many groups campaign for women rights but they need more support from governments and the public:

The most effective campaigners against honour killings have been South Asian, Middle Eastern and Kurdish women.  Murder is murder and, as Mike O'Brien pointed out when he was Home Office minister, in the matter of honour killings, multiculturalism has too often become an excuse for "moral blindness."  [Bedell, 2004]

These acts can be abused for other ends and by other groups who could be in favour of such killings if it happens to them. They may answer killing by killing innocent people because they belong to that religion or group. The Amnesty International reported the killing of ‘23 Yezidi workers', as retaliation by a ‘Sunni armed group', as the statement announced, which means that there are people who try to use such acts as an excuse for their sectarian or tribal hatred. Du'a's murder is not the first and there are no indications to show that it will be the last. In order to eradicate honour killings in a society different government and non-government agencies should work together in order to control the mentality which provide the ground for such atrocity to grow. The government, it is argued has a big responsibility to organize investigation committees and to enforce law and order, however government decision or law is not sufficient if it is not supported by a wider sector of the society, Bedell concludes by saying:  

In the end, honour killings will only be eradicated when power over women is not seen as central to a man's self-respect, and domination of women and girls is not seen as reassuring social glue.

Comments (4)

Violence against women is nothing new & we know it.
written by LauraNelson , January 08, 2008

Let's be real here people!

Violence against women is nothing new & we know it. It's one of the leading causes of death for females all over the planet--including the United States!

The soil collective earthly is still peppered with the ashes of generations of so-called witches...who were not witches at all--just powerful women!

It is still not safe for a woman to walk to the store after dark or sometimes even in broad daylight in the US, UK or any so-called civilized-modern nation. Why is that?

This was a gross and ugly example of a prevalent attitude toward females. Oh yes, indeed!

She was killed for no other reason than that she was a woman. She also had the unabashed gall to make up her own mind and go where her heart led her to go. Every male dominated religion, culture and ethnic group on the face of this earth either currently condemns or has condemned this in the female of the human species.

"Woe unto any woman who dares to be a person instead of a possession!"

By and large only men are afforded the right to make up their own minds and God forbid even make mistakes in multifarious cultures, religions and ethnic groups all over the planet.

Misogyny has little respect or regard for race.

Weak men fear any show of power in a female. Why else did it take over a hundred of them to gang up on one defenseless, stripped, terrorized teen aged female?

This particular group of rabid dogs were taking out their hatred and frustration on a helpless girl because they are powerless little boys, most likely with insecurities about their own manhood and virility. They are so weak and afraid of life that they likely cry themselves to sleep at night holding their limp little noodles in their greasy, hairy little palms cursing all women--even their own mothers for their gross inadequacy.

Did you see how very beautiful this woman-child was?

They hated her for that as well as the Light of her spirit.

Dear Du'a is in a better, more Love & light-filled place now while the rest of us languish still down here on the ground in hell with mindless, stickless little cowards who use violence against women to cover up their own repugnant weakness and vile, wretched depravity.

Pigs!

GOD help us all!

As for those males among the sheep who are actually men, please STAND UP! Women and children of the world need real men to finally stand up and take a stand against this type of wickedness wherever on the planet it rears it disgusting head.

It's a sin and a shame to realize that this incident is just ONE of the many that have occurred and continue to occur in this awful, evil, wretched world of racist, sexist, fanatic, egomaniacal swine.

Off I go to VOMIT!


Women of color are welcome to seek sanctuary and sisterhood at:

www.MySpace.com/LauraNelsonSanctuary

This sacred place is for WOMEN of color ONLY...thanx!

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honour killing
written by amber , August 31, 2007

very bad thing to do.

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...
written by Etelka , July 07, 2007

The article make signifiicant points, and I certainly feel disturbed and have thought of Dua many times since seeing part of her murder on Wolf Blitzer’s program in late May. Since then, I have come to feel a certain kinship with her simply because she was a young woman who should have been protected by her family but instead was betrayed in the ultimate degree. I never thought that people would or could perpetrate a brutal execution as seen on videotape. I can only feel a sense of deep shame for the entire human race. The West drops bombs while the Middle East finishes off its own people especially their young women in such a brutal fashion. Seemingly, the human race has not changed over history and will not change; only the pendulum of mores will swing from one extreme to the other. The culture of death whether it is methodically delivered on unseen targets by bombs that are only 50% accurate versus subjectively delivered from close range by hand needs to be reexamined by dispassionate heads. Both executions must be seen for what they really are-- as simply nothing but the murders of innocent people who are either unknown to us or are familial. In either case, they are both very wrong and need to be stopped. Will that happen?--probably not and that is a sad thing for the human race.

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Wonderful commentary
written by JB , May 20, 2007

Thank you so much for writing this. I am not familiar at all with a culture who could do such things. I think it is very important for men to separate their sense of self-respect and identity from ruling over women. A woman is not an extension of a man's ego. She is her own person.

After reading this, I feel deeply disturbed but feel I have a lot better of an understanding of the mentality. I wonder if there is anything to be done to remove this deeply embedded and deeply flawed mindset. I feel so frightened that such a way of thinking exists.

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