With thy body I thee honor!

A few days ago, in a fit of intellectual wanting, I was flicking through the TED Talks website. I viewed some great lectures, most of which went like a Turkish airlines flight coming onto land, i.e over my head. Then up popped one by Mustafa Aykol, a well respected journalist for the Turkish Hurriyet Daily news. In his well presented and articulated oratory at Warwick University in England, he hypothesized that most of the things we associate with Islam are in fact tribal traditions and not connected with Islam at all, the wearing of headscarves and polygamy were some examples he conveyed.  It was a most enlightening talk, much appreciated by those gathered who warmly gave him a rousing round of applause at the end. Even myself was most impressed and definitely he gave me something to think about. Although, there was one area he mentioned so briefly if you had sneezed you would probably have missed it. Honor killings, again were something that had it’s roots solely in the traditions of tribes and not in the Koran according to Mr Aykol. 

Now, I mention this as this week, saw another horrific murder of a woman in Turkey by the crime known as “Honor killing” – was there ever such a perfect oxymoron as this? Dilek Duyuş a 34 year old woman was murdered by four men, including her ex-husband . Immediately all arrested the husband declared, obviously with a sense of pride “my honor is restored’. The question is where does this man’s “honor” come from? Does it, as Mr Aykol suggest come from a deep rooted past tribal tradition or as some believe from the man’s indoctrination into his faith.

Honor killings – murder would seem a more appropriate verb, are of course not a modern phenomenon. For those that remember their Shakespeare will remember the Bard’s tragedy Titus Andronicus. Set in the time of the Roman Empire, Lavina, the hero's daughter had been raped and mutilated, and Andronicus contemplated her "honor" killing.

Titus: Was it well done of rash Virginius
To slay his daughter with his own right hand
Because she was enforced, stained and
deflowered?
Saturninus: It was, Andronicus...
Because the girl should not survive her shame

With this Lavina’s fate was sealed.

The origin of honor killings and the control of women is evidenced throughout history in the culture and tradition of many regions. Roman law gave complete control to the men of the family for both their children and wives. Under these laws, the lives of children and wives were at the sole discretion of the men in their family. Ancient Roman Law also established historical roots of honor killings through the law stating that women found guilty of adultery could be killed by their husband in whatever manner the husband desired. In ancient Rome, being raped was seen as dishonorable to the point of destroying a woman's life and reputation, and honor killing was supposed to be a "merciful" act.^[In ancient Greece also, the lives of women were dictated by their husbands as women were considered socially below males. So, with this it would seem that the “honor by killing” date back to even before the Faith of Islam was born. Which in turn would seem that Mustafa Aykol’s reasoning that this most wicked of crimes is not an Islamic problem but a world and tribal one.

Instinctively though, the obvious flaw in Mr Aykot’s rational is the time frame on which he works on. The traditional tribalism of ancient Rome and Greece fell by the wayside and with it the act. Picking up the baton Islam, although no obvious scripture in the Koran supports the crime, seems to have ran with it and continues to this day. The parasitic evil of honor killings jumped onto it’s  back, unfortunately it is a parasite that Islam does not seem to want to scratch off and silently allows it to live deep inside it’s culture and fester accordingly.  In modern times according to statistics by Berkley University in 2010 titled, The Modern Face of Honor Killing: Factors, Legal Issues, and Policy Recommendation, 93% of all honor based murders are committed in the Islamic world. Mr Aykol may have a point that the crime has it’s roots in tribal societies, however the branches are now fully grown in the lands of his  faith – and to be ignored at the peril of the life’s of thousands of woman throughout the world. 

One can rightly understand Mr Aykol’s need to want to protect his faith in any negative portrayal. Surely though, that protection has to stop when woman are being murdered throughout that faith and throughout the Islamic world.  One does not need to look further then Mr Aykol’s own country to see the scale of the problem. According to the last governmental statistics in 2007, State Minister Nimet Çubukçu's  revealed that the number of "honor killings" in Turkey in the five years previous. In that time span 1,806 women died from murders committed by their families who believe their daughters,wifes, sisters had somehow disrespected the family honor. Another 5,375 committed suicide in the same time frame. These numbers show that one woman dies from an honor killing each day. A truly shocking number! Mr Çubukçu's, solution for these wicked crimes?  Opening “courses” for woman throughout Turkey. Wouldn’t it have been better if the courses were directed at the male gender?

Until recently, under Turkish law honour killers could get a reduced sentence claiming provocation. However, four years ago, as part of Turkey's campaign to join the European Union, it introduced a mandatory life sentence for the crime. But the change in the law hasn't reduced the killings. Instead it appears to have given rise to a sinister new twist. That of forced suicides of woman seen to have stained their honor thus saving a male family member the hassle of killing and the hassle of a life sentence. The city of Batman for example, has seen a distinct rise of female suicide since the new law was introduced.

Turkish woman are starting to fight back though. Using the International day for women, in the past couple of years demonstrations have taken place in some of the larger cities in the country. In Ankara, 2000 marched last year decrying the acts that have been committed against their own gender. Sadly though, the marches do not seem to extend to some of the more Eastern cities where the core of the problem would seem to be. Alas, it is when the male species of the country join alongside them, that is when change may slowly be seen

.

What really can be done though to stop the rivers of female blood flowing day by day, month by month and year by year? Hopefully something better than what was once suggested by Iraqi Accord Front MP Hashim al-Taee. Who in 2008 incredulously suggested.

“A woman might be asked to practice prostitution for money than be killed for her honor. Economic solutions are needed - not legal ones.”

While one can congratulate the Turkish government for increasing the jail time for the murderer, it also must address the motivations behind honor killing, it also must address the consequences of the practice, as well as the circumstances which perpetuate it. The creation of more shelters for woman in danger threatened with an honor killing will provide protection for potential victims.

Other helpful facilities that governments could provide include juvenile-detention- educational centers where under-age perpetrators can be educated about the practice’s implications on legal and human rights. Educational institutions should include in their curriculums a mandatory segment on religion, which explains that honor killing is not condoned by but, in fact, goes against religious values. In addition, Turkish penal code should order the state to mandatorily and permanently take custody over any minors in the care of an honor killing’s defendant. Such a policy could deter future generations from learning and practicing the same custom of murder as their care givers.

Finishing back where I started, Mustafa Aykol, is true that honor murders are not an Islamic creation, in fact nor a creation of any of the Abrahamic faiths. However, Turkey is not a tribe anymore, it is a country.  A country that strives to show to the world it is new, modern and progressive. It is also a country with a Prime Minister who Mr Aykol openly supports in his articles in the Turkish and World press. A Prime Minister who In 2010, talking to invited representatives of women's organizations at the Dolmabahce Palace in Istanbul  confessed: "I don't believe in equality between men and women.". A Prime Minister, that Mustafa Aykol supports who in 2011 on International Women's Day, whilst  discussing violence against women and statistics stating that so-called honor killings had increased 14-fold in Turkey from 2002 to 2009 declared “ it was only because more murders were being reported, and that there are basically few acts of violence against women”.  When a male role model, that a vast number of Turkish males follow, speaks with such flippancy at crimes against the women of Turkey, is there really any hope?

Unfortunately, the name of Dilek Duyuş, the poor unfortunate woman, murdered in the name of honor this week, is destined to just be another statistic. A faceless number buried deep under the ground just as the appalling crime that stole her soul is being done.

Westy