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.