Why men in the West get away with killing women Trigger warning for referenced horrific violence
(an incredibly important read.
Why men in the West get away with killing women Trigger warning for referenced horrific violence
They’re not called ‘honour killings’, but white Western men often get away with similar excuses. It’s no coincidence.
Julie Bindel
Journalist, author and feminist campaigner
Published On 21 Oct 202221 Oct 2022
?resize=770%2C513
Women demonstrate following reports on the third femicide in the last 48 hours in the country, rising the number to 15 women killed by their husbands or boyfriends in the last 7 months, in central Athens on August 2, 2022. - Protesters demand immediate actions for protection of the women reporting an abuse and better judiciary system. (Photo by Louisa GOULIAMAKI / AFP)
Greek women demonstrate against the growing number of murders of women by their husbands or boyfriends in Athens on August 2, 2022 [Louisa GOULIAMAKI/AFP]
Feminists and human rights campaigners have long criticised the use of the term “honour killing” to describe the homicides of women perpetrated by men purportedly for bringing shame upon or dishonouring their families. The term is mainly used in the context of traditional, patriarchal religious communities from non-white, non-Western countries. However, there are problems with both the terminology and the description of such crimes. There is never any “honour” in murder, and many of these homicides take place in secular, white Western contexts and communities. Yet, it is clear that such killings are viewed and labelled differently depending on the perpetrators.
When white Western men kill women, they often claim they did so due to provocation or jealousy. When men in Asia or the Middle East commit such crimes, it is said to be about maintaining the “honour” of the killer’s family and community. The United Nations estimates that about 5,000 women are killed each year in honour-related crimes. Most of the victims included in this statistic are from Asia and the Middle East. Yet, a closer look reveals that many murders – often in the West – that are categorised as other types of homicide also fit this label. That’s partly why many feminist groups campaigning on this issue think the actual number is much higher — closer to 20,000 worldwide. Another factor is the hidden nature of some of these murders, which can be dismissed as suicides or disappearances.
As I’ve written previously, patriarchs everywhere often treat the women and girls who die this way as culpable: They were slaughtered, according to this logic, because they failed to be subservient and obedient. Nothing speaks of this stigma more than an unmarked section of a cemetery in Sulaymaniyah in the Kurdish region of northern Iraq, in which several victims of patriarchal murders are buried. I met Naza, whose daughter is buried there. She visits in secret because her daughter’s death has been shrouded in shame.
In 1990, I co-founded the UK-based feminist law reform organisation Justice for Women to campaign for fair and equal treatment of women going through the criminal justice system, either as victims or defendants in cases involving male violence. In the UK, a woman dies every three days at the hands of a former or current male partner. European Union data show that in 2020, there were 400 femicides in Poland, 117 in Germany, 102 in Italy and 99 in Hungary. The law largely treats these men more leniently than it does the women who fight back to save their lives.
. . . .
. . . .
To be sure, despite similarities between such killings across contexts and continents, there are also differences. But the focus should be on femicide, the very act of a man killing a woman or girl. This form of deadly male violence cuts across every single country and culture on the planet. It cannot be acceptable anywhere.
https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2022/10/21/patriarchal-murders-are-a-western-problem-too