[Wamvan] 'Should we call it 'honour killing'? No!' (Montreal Gazette)

Tue Jan 31 20:37:09 PST 2012

In reference to the globe and mail article and montreal gazette article, I
feel both pieces emphasize gender (rightfully so) but to the exclusion of
thorough, intersectional race analyses. I respect that they acknowledge
 how violence from men of South Asian and Middle Eastern ancestry is
covered more heavily in Canadian media than that from white men, and
moreover how that violence is labelled "honour killings" whereas white
Western male violence is reduced to "individual pathology". I still think
Canadian media and critiques of that media often ignores colonialism,
imperialism and racism i.e., the historical and cultural context that
informs coverage of these murders and in fact the murders themselves. I
don't think we can talk about gendered violence without an analysis of race.

I hope this makes sense.
Cheers,
L

On Tue, Jan 31, 2012 at 3:46 PM, Natalie Hill <nhill10 at gmail.com> wrote:

> This is a link to one of the other very popular columns on this topic
> (which I believe you are referencing, Lindsay).  It was actually published
> way back in July, 2010, which I did not notice until just now.
>
>
> http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/second-reading/gerald-caplan/honour-killings-in-canada-even-worse-than-we-believe/article1650228/
>
> Interesting to see the Gazette column is by Yasmin Jiwani - she is a very
> prominent scholar in the areas of media, race, Islamophobia, xenophobia,
> and the like.  I enjoy seeing anti-racist feminist academics translate
> their work into columns for mainstream consumption.
>
> Also interesting to hear your critique, Lindsay.  Would you mind
> elaborating?
>
> On Tue, Jan 31, 2012 at 3:36 PM, Lindsay Miles <lindskmiles at gmail.com>wrote:
>
>> "The reality we as a society must face is that these murders are about
>> gendered violence." - yes, but they are also about racism. they are about
>> colonialism and imperialism. these murders speak to how women of colour and
>> indigenous women ar...e marked as "violable" and how men of colour and
>> indigenous men internalize racist, colonial logics. i appreciate how
>> several articles including this one have touched on the Western-centric
>> bias and anti-Islam sentiment in media coverage on "honour killings"
>> however intersectional analyses are lacking.
>>
>> link to article and comments:
>>
>> http://www.montrealgazette.com/opinion/Should+call+honour+killing/6074266/story.html
>>
>>   Should we call it ‘honour killing’? No!
>>
>>  It’s a false distancing of ourselves from a too-common crime: the
>> murder of females
>>
>> By Yasmin Jiwani and Homa HoodfarJanuary 30, 2012
>>
>>
>>
>>  Rona Shafia, left and Sahar Shafia, in a photo recovered from Sahar's
>> cellphone, taken June 26, 2009 while the Shafia family was in Niagara Falls.
>> *Photograph by: *From Archive
>>
>> The extensive media coverage of the Shafia trial and convictions raises
>> important questions about how violence against women is framed in the
>> media. Just as a photograph is framed by the photographer, so is the
>> media’s framing of a particular issue; the focus of our attention is on
>> what is in the picture only. Out of sight is the background we will never
>> know. In the case of the Shafia murders, the media frame the story as an
>> honour killing.
>>
>> Some authorities argue that the notion of honour is key to defining this
>> type of crime involving family members. Typically, the victims are women
>> pegged as having deviated from the moral code and thus undermined the
>> family’s honour; by killing them, family reputation and honour may be
>> restored. Premeditation is put forth as a core component to differentiate
>> honour killings from other types of murders, such as crimes of convenience
>> or crimes of passion.
>>
>> But recent studies indicate that premeditation is as much a component in
>> other cases of domestic violence and murder as it is in “honour killings.”
>> So what separates “honour killings” from other murders of intimate partners
>> or family members? More important, what is to be gained by framing the
>> murders of the Shafia women and girls as honour killings rather than simply
>> defining them as acts of femicide (the murder of women and girls solely on
>> the basis of their gender)?
>>
>> Calling the murders “honour killings” accomplishes two goals. First, it
>> makes it seem as if femicide is a highly unusual event. Second, it makes it
>> seem as if femicide is confined to specific populations within Canada and
>> specific national cultures or religions in the world at large. But Canadian
>> statistics prove otherwise. According to StatsCan figures, from 2000 to
>> 2009 an average of 58 women a year were killed in this country as a result
>> of spousal violence. In that same period, 67 children and young people aged
>> 12 to 17 were murdered by family members. In contrast, recent estimates
>> tell us that there have been 12 or 13 so-called honour killings in Canada
>> in the last decade. It does not take a genius to see that comparing 12 or
>> 13 against the hundreds of women and children who were victims of familial
>> violence serves only to frame “honour killing” as peculiar, when in reality
>> it is part of a larger pattern of violence against women.
>>
>> There is also, critically, the issue of affixing familial femicides to
>> particular cultures. But if “honour killing” is truly reflective of
>> particular cultural groups, what kind of cultural frame should we apply to
>> the widespread murders of aboriginal women? Aboriginal women’s
>> organizations have documented more than 500 cases of women murdered or
>> missing (and by now we know that “missing” probably means murdered).
>> Amnesty International has corroborated these figures, and the United
>> Nations has requested an inquiry. The arrest and conviction of Robert
>> Pickton, a serial killer who preyed on aboriginal women, suggests that many
>> of these missing and murdered women were killed not by aboriginal men but
>> by white men. A cultural frame typically affixes blame on the perpetrator’s
>> cultural affiliation. The media, in this, and similar cases, did not.
>>
>> Going back to the coverage of the Shafia murders, many reporters
>> referenced the family’s Afghan cultural background and adherence to Islam,
>> suggesting that the murders were motivated by cultural and religious
>> beliefs. According to the 2006 census, there are 48,090 Canadians with
>> Afghan ancestry. Yet the media have unearthed only this one high-profile
>> case of multiple familial homicides. If the phenomenon of “honour killing”
>> is reflective of cultural practices or religious traditions, why is the
>> number of incidents not higher?
>>
>> The reality we as a society must face is that these murders are about
>> gendered violence. They symbolize a wider, more prevalent logic that shows
>> women and girls what is likely to happen to them if they don’t behave and
>> conform to social and patriarchal expectations. Recall the Guy Turcotte
>> case, where a father killed his own children after their mother began a
>> relationship with a mutual friend. It is a notion that women are property:
>> if they do not conform, they are likely to suffer the consequences.
>>
>> Femicide is about gender. It is about women and girls being killed
>> because they are women and girls. That is the particularity of this kind of
>> violence. It has nothing to do with honour, passion or convenience. These
>> are merely excuses and rationalizations.
>>
>> Yasmin Jiwaniis an associate professor in the Department of Communication
>> Studies at Concordia University.Homa Hoodfaris a professor in Concordia’s
>> Department of Sociology and Anthropology.
>>
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