Men- There is No Honor in Killing The In

Men- There Is No Honor In Killing The Innocent

My father works as a prominent lawyer in my country in the Middle East. He never talked about the cases he worked on and I never interfered in his own business. By coincidence, one day I heard him talking with my brother about one of the cases he had. This case drew my attention and I asked my father more information about it. My father had a lawsuit. He will defend two men in an honor killing crime. The two men were her father and brother. The girl was sixteen. The men killed her in very barbarian brutal way. They slit her throat. They waited for this innocent girl to come back from school, forced her off the school bus, and in front of all her classmates, killed her.
While we can all agree honor killing is wrong, the irony here is that this young girl did not have any clue about what was going on because she was totally innocent of any wrong doing. Her name is stigmatized with shame, yet she was innocent, purely innocent from all accusations!
Honor killing is an old social habit but it still occurs in the Middle East. Honor killings are a punishment for women who commit adultery, whether they are married or not. It is believed that they must be killed because of the social convention that they brought shame to their families by their immoral behavior and by killing them; their families will purify and cleanse the honor and the respectful reputation of the family.
This article is not about whether or not committing adultery is wrong. This article is about honor killing and the many innocent women who are killed from false accusations. They are legally murdered without any verification about their case, like this innocent girl.
I have been raised in a very conservative culture in the Middle East. I have witnessed many cases of women being accused of adultery, where men use gossips, false allegations and fabricated stories, pictures and/or videos, as evidence to end the woman's life through "honor killing." The women were totally innocent.
Sometimes men use adultery as an excuse to legally justify honor killings. In conservative Middle Eastern culture, when a woman rejects a man, his reaction is hostility, rage and he wants revenge. He will do what is called "character assassination." This gossip will tarnish her reputation and he hopes the gossip will reach her relatives.
I have witnessed many women who were killed based only on gossip, false allegations, fabricated pictures or videos, and unfortunately the relatives, the ones who execute the punishment, never investigate or question the allegations. They never question if the gossip is true or not. Women are not given the chance to defend themselves. I have so many tragic stories of innocent women being killed through honor killing.
Many men do not have any deterrent from killing any woman who they think brought shame to the family. Honor killing is blessed by the family, community, and ignored from any kind of legal penalty and government authorities. If the government authorities, or the law enforcement, act in a more strict way, it will reduce the killing of innocent women, and hold the perpetrators accountable for their actions.
Currently, perpetrators are released from prison after a few weeks or months. Law enforcement, government officials and the community believe the man's actions were justified and the consequence of short term imprisonment is sufficient. Society supports the practice of defending and protecting the honor of the family.
Men in the Middle East have been raised to be oversensitive about the honor of the family. This honor embodies and counts on the women's respectful and moral behavior. It is a cultural belief that women should never have sexual relationships or physical intimacy before marriage.
This is how culture in the Middle East is. It's how people have been raised. However, men in this culture forget something that is extremely important - women are humans. Women are not devoid of emotions. Women have needs just like men. Emotional, psychological and physical needs. Women, like men, need to have partners in their life. Otherwise, they will feel unbalanced.
It is not invitation for demoralizing women or an encouragement for women to become involved in any wrongdoing. It is an invitation for both genders to understand that we are equal. We have equal needs. Men, it is time to stop behaving in a radical manner.
With the support of the community, we can change what is happening in most of the Middle Eastern countries. There must be serious, sustainable legal and law enforcement action. Justice must be served to those who commit honor killings. There must be a democratic and fair legal system. Honor killings must be abolished. Our social standards must advance. Courts must demand solid proof of any and all accusations, especially those against the women, and punishments must be consistent with international human rights standards. Those who seek to arbitrarily harm another must face legal consequences.