Presentation on Fadime Sahindal for International Women's Day 2012: Honour based violence in the UK and Europe

1. +
Fadime’s
legacy
‘Honour’-based violence in
the UK and Europe
Joanne Payton.
IKWRO, HBVAnet & Cardiff University

2. +
Naming ‘honour’
“ For my family, the
purpose of my life
was to marry a
Kurdish man.
All of a sudden, I had
been transformed
from a nice Kurdish
girl into a slut.”
http://www.fadimesminne.nu/tal_ar_fadime_eng.html
Fadime Sahindal (1975-2002)

3. +
Collective perpetration
Banaz Mahmod: 5 killers Ghazala Khan: 9 killers
The Shafia sisters: 3 killers

4. +
Collective instigation
“ You can either
destroy your honour
or your sister. If you
don’t choose the
latter you can’t walk
amongst those
around you as a
man.”
‘Honour Killings’: Stories of men who killed,
Ayse Onal, 2008, al-Saqi Books, London

5. • Bettiga-Boukerbout, M. G. 2005. 'Crimes of Honour' in the Italian Penal Code:
An analysis of history and reform. In: Welchman, L. and Hossain, S. eds.
'Honour': Crimes, paradigms and violence against women. London: Zed
Books, pp. 230-245.
• Denich, B. S. 1974. Sex and Power in the Balkans. In: Rosaldo, M.Z. and
Lamphere, L. eds. Woman, Culture and Society. Stanford: Stanford
University Press, pp. 243-263.
• Peristiany, J. G. ed. 1966. Honour and Shame: The Values of Mediterranean
Society. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
+ Eurasian crimes
Honour crimes are currently associated with
the Middle East and South Asia, including
India.
However, they have been recorded in living
memory in the Balkan and Mediterranean
regions, and are likely to have been common
across Eurasia in the pre-Modern era.
Isabella di Morra (c1520-1545)

6. +
The ‘honour’ code
 Accepting parental marriage “ If you don’t comply, if
arrangement
you argue back, if you
 Protecting and maintaining her commit suicide, if you
eligibility for marriage by risk death to get
conforming to social norms
related to gender relations and
married with the one
sexuality you love, then you are
dishonourable…
 Meeting the standards of
normative wifehood after If you have a free soul,
marriage, through subordinacy
to the marital family and fertility you cannot be
honourable.”
The Dynamics of Honor Killings in Turkey:
Prospects for Action, Feliz Kardam, 2005, UN

7. +
Crimes against women
The majority of victims are young women.
http://www.memini.co

8. +
Crimes against men
Men may also be victims.
Chomir Ali Begum ordered his sons
to kill Arash, who was planning to
settle down with his daughter Manna.
Arash Ghorbani-Zarin (1985-2004)

9. +
Responses to HBV in the UK
Initial errors followed by growing awareness

10. +
Banaz Mahmod: A case study
Banaz Mahmod (1986-2006)
Payton, J. 2010. Collective crimes, collective victims: A case study of the
murder of Banaz Mahmod. In: Idriss, M.M. and Abbas, T. eds. Honour,
violence, women and Islam. Oxford: Routledge
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-461280/Murder-girls-cries-help-ignored.html

11. More than 2800 incidents of ‘honour’
+ 
based violence last year.
 Nine forces showed an increase in
‘honour’ crime between 2009 and 2010.
 The overall increase across twelve
forces was 57%.
 In London ‘honour’ crime has doubled to
more than 5 times the national average,
and in Northumberland it has tripled in a
year
UK statistics
Responses to FOI requests made by  The top five worst areas are:
IKWRO
1. London 495
2. West Midlands 378
3. West Yorkshire 350
4. Lancashire 227
5. Manchester 189

12. +
Sources for further information
Honour-Based Violence Awareness Network: http://honour-killings.com/
 Brandon, J. and Hafez, S. 2008. Crimes of the Husseini, R. 2009.
Community: Honour-based violence in the UK. Murder in the Name of
London: Centre for Social Cohesion. Honor. Oxford:
Oneworld
 VanEck, C. 2003. Purified by Blood: Honour Publications.
killings amongst Turks in the Netherlands.
Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press.
 Rose, J. 2009. ‘A Piece of White Silk’. London
Review of Books, Vol. 31 No. 21. 5 November
2009, pages 5-8
Welchman, L. and
 Sen, P. 2005. 'Crimes of Honour': Value and
Hossain, S. 2005.
meaning. In: Welchman, L. and Hossain, S.
eds. Honour: Crimes, paradigms and violence eds. 'Honour': Crimes,
against women. London: Zed Books. paradigms and
violence against
women. London: Zed
 Taysi, T. B. 2009. Eliminating Violence Against
Books
Women: Perspectives on honor-related violence
in the Iraqi Kurdistan region, Sulaimaniya
governate. Sulemaniya: United Nations
Assistance Mission in Iraq/ASUDA.

13. +
Joanne Payton
Information and Research Officer
Iranian and Kurdish Women’s Rights Organisation
www.ikwro.org.uk
www.stophonourkillings.com
joanne.payton@gmail.com
07892 679472