Blame Culture or Institutions?

Honor killings have been prominently identified as a cultural practice; however, many scholars have examined that this ‘cultural practice’ stems from patriarchal power structures, and is an institutional, rather than cultural issue. Dicle Kogacioglu defines honor crimes as “the murder of a woman by members of her family who do not approve of her sexual behavior.” Kogacioglu examines honor crimes in southeastern Turkey and argues that the framework for the examination of honor crimes must shift from the examination of culture and tradition to a focus on political dynamics and “institutional structures.” Kogacioglu, further explains that tradition is the framework used to justify the distribution of power and discrimination against women. Institutions are hesitant to eradicate the effect of tradition when it comes to the security of women; Kogacioglu states, “traditions suddenly become resistant to change.” The only action Turkey has taken to bring justice to victims of honors crimes was influenced by the country’s desire to gain accession to the European Union. The country’s legislative system revised the Turkish Criminal Code to prosecute perpetrators of honor killings; conversely, this revision has only made things worse. 

According to Dan Bilefsky, it has now made families force their daughters to commit suicide, for the sake of the families honor. In Bilefsky’s report on a young Turkish girl’s attempt to commit ‘honor suicide’ he states, that Turkey has ‘tightened the punishment for attacks on women” in hope to join the EU. Bilefsky’s article is about Derya, a 17 year old Turkish girl, who was ordered to kill herself by her uncle. Her uncle sent her a text stating, “Kill yourself and clean our shame.” She attempted to commit honor suicide three times, but she survived. First Derya, jumped into the Tigris River, second she tried to hang herself, and lastly she slashed her wrist, but she still did not fulfill her family’s wish, so she escaped to a women’s shelter. Bilefsky, in contrast to Kogacioglu states that the laws have been changed, but the modernization and secularist practices of the state conflicts with conservative Islamic practices. The UN News Center in 2010, similar to Kogacioglu, report that honor killings are discrimination against women due to the failure of institutions. Regardless of cultural practices institutions must ensure and promote women’s rights. As Ban Ki-moon states, honor killings are definitely not a cultural practice.

I believe honor killings are a cultural practice, which stem from the lack of education in patriarchal societies which result in the oppression of women. State institutions, however are very manipulative when the concern is women’s rights. In the case of honor killings, similar to Kogacioglu’s argument, I argue that institutions overlook the most important aspect of honor killings, which is not culture, but women’s rights.  Bringing an end to this practice is far from cultural reform, it simply depends on the empowerment of women. For example, Derya’s attempt to commit honor suicide illustrates the state’s failure in attempt to prosecute the perpetrators of such crimes. Should the state reattempt to modify their criminal codes? Or should the state focus on educating and empowering women? If state institutions focused on improving the status of women, rather than the prosecution of the perpetrator, honor killings would not have transformed to honor suicides. Overall, the states approach to bring an end to this problem is deceptive. Turkey, with the hope of admission to the EU, modified its criminal codes; it’s a shame the state took such action without the cause being the security of women.  The United Nations, on the other hand, is very worthy in identifying the problem, but as usual, very timid to take action and find solutions. Our concern, in the case of honor killings should not be culture reform, although it is a cultural practice, our concern should be the victims. 

Research Proposal

Is the homicide of a family member committed by another member of that family justified if the victim has dishonored their family? Honor killings are a social phenomenon, which has caused much controversy in Islamic communities. Generally women are the victims of honor killings, in which the perpetrator is a male member of her family, perhaps the father, an older brother, or an uncle. However, is this inhumane practice a cultural or religious dispute?

In order to research this topic one must first comprehend and evaluate the written text of the holy book, The Quran. The Quran presents value statements and justifications in regards to this issue. Secondly one must examine the cultural values and practices of the communities, which take part in honor killings. While doing so cultural relativism is a must, one should examine the given society from a neutral perspective. Although most of the data that will be gathered throughout this research will be value statements, factual data such as the demographics of the community plays a significant role. The gender, age, and ethnic background of the victim and the perpetrator of the honor killing are very important. Conversely, value statements such as The Quran and the opinions of the participants are important to observe the relationship amongst members of the society. Who has the power and who is the decision maker?

Spoken text is crucial during the study of the given cultural or society. For instance, conversations with members of the victim’s family are essential data to the research process. During the conversation or interview, I must closely examine facial expressions, tone, and manner in which the spokesperson presents their self in, because their behavior unveils their true feelings and provides responsive feedback. For example, the mother of the victim may state that the homicide of her daughter was the right choice made to preserve the family’s honor, whereas while she states this she is sobbing and is barely able to continue her sentence. This indicates that she is obligated to iterate this statement to please her surroundings, but in fact the mother is devastated. In addition, visual data, such as photos of the victim have great resonance for the family members, society, and definitely my research.

Primary and secondary data both play a vital role in this research process. Primary data will be collected to analytically examine the nature of honor killings; is it a cultural or religious practice. Secondary research may result in feedback from the members of that given society. Do they think the murder of any individual for the sake of ‘honor’ is justified?

The epistemological approach which is most effective to peruse this research topic is the interpretivist approach. I will gather my data and interpret the nature, meanings, and my understandings of honor killings.The data collection process, including texts; such as, The Quran, existing honor killing cases, and the examination of the culture, all contain meanings and understandings of honor killings, which must be interpreted. A progressive way to structure and gather data is to create anonymous questionnaires, which provide textual feedback that perhaps one is forbidden to verbally state.

Individual and group data play a fundamental role in the research process. Data produced by a group, include the members’ of the community contributions to my research. Their intake and understanding of this topic is crucial to examine whether or not honor killings are a cultural or religious practice. I personally think honor killings are a cultural practice, rather than a religious practice. However, my input on this given topic (reflexive data) may influence, but definitely not confine my research. When stating my beliefs on this topic I must keep a personal journal or diary to take notes in while collecting the data and examining the case.