The Injustice of Honor Killing: The Necessity of Adopting More
Humanistic Legal Punishment in Iran
Fig. 1. Can it be justifiable to kill women in an inhumane way to keep “family’s honor”?
Hubpages
Marina Nakamura
ID: 151312
Professor Christianson
ARW Section BD
1 November 2011
Outline
Research Question
Should more humanistic interpretation of Sharia be promoted?
Can it be justifiable to kill women to keep “family’s honor”?
Thesis Statement
The government of Iran should adopt more humanistic legal punishment on women. This is for the following two reasons:
1) Punishing women inhumanely is the violation of human rights.
2) Punishing women differently encourages inequality between men and women.
Ⅰ. Introduction
A. (Hook) News about honor killing with stoning
B. (Background)The context and interpretation of Sharia
C. Thesis
Ⅱ. Punishing women inhumanely is the violation of human rights.
A. The reality of legal punishment against women. How severe?
B. The reasons of honor killing
Ⅲ. Punishing women differently encourages inequality between men and women.
A. Gender inequality of legal punishment in Islamic society.
B. The idea that women are inherently weaker than men.
Ⅳ. Conclusion
A. Repeat thesis and main points
B. How it can be changed?
The Injustice of Honor Killing: The Necessity of Adopting More
Humanistic Legal Punishment in Iran
Can you believe the fact that hundreds of innocent women are killed by their family in the name of keeping family’s honor? According to Iran human rights, the non-governmental organization which aims to address the problems concerning the human rights situation in Iran, fourteen years old girl was killed by her own father in 2008. He killed his daughter by stoning and shooting four bullets at her when he found out about his daughter’s relationship with a boy (“14 years old”). This kind of cases is called “honor killing” that means people are murdered by their family in compensation for having destroyed family’s honor. Women have to sacrifice their lives when their behaviors are thought to be immoral in the society. The retributive penalties for law-breaking are based on Sharia which is a system of religious laws followed by Muslims. Many Islamic countries adopt Sharia into their national laws to some extent. However, the extent of interpretation of Sharia is quite different from countries to countries according to each country’s social structure or cultural value. In particular, there is harsh and inhumane legal punishment on women in Iran which is very strict Islamic country. Therefore, the government of Iran should adopt more humanistic legal punishment on women. This is for the following two reasons:1) Punishing women inhumanely is the violation of human rights. 2) Punishing women differently encourages inequality between men and women.
Ⅰ. The violation of human rights
First, the way of punishing women in Iran violates the fundamental human rights. Honor killing is often carried out by stoning that a crowd throws stones at the person until he or she is dead. Stoning to death is completely against articles 3 and 5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which guarantees the right to life and prohibits inhuman punishment (“Universal Declaration”). The act of honor killing is violating the universal human rights that have to be ensured for every single person in the world. In other words, stoning is a barbaric show that infringes human’s dignity in public. The situation of honor killing in Iran is so serious that some quick measures should be taken. According to news24, South African Internet news source, forty-five young women became the victims of honor killing in Khuzestan, which is one of the Iran’s provinces in a two-month period of 2003 (“Honour Killings on the rise”). However, the number of the honor killings is unclear and vague. This is because he information about present situation in Iran is limited and most cases of honor killings are not reported to the police. In other words, it is very difficult to know the actual situation of honor killing. Moreover, the people who have the power to control Iran do not allow international human rights organizations such as Human Rights Watch or Amnesty International to enter a country and conduct research about honor killing (“Report Honour”) . In addition to this, even if women’s sins are suspicious and uncertain, they are killed so that male’s relatives can restore the credit and honor of their family’s name in the society (“Honour Killing: Crime”). Thus, women in Iran face the violation of human rights in their daily lives.
Second, honor killing is carried out for a variety of reasons. According to Institution for the Secularization of the Islamic Society, the Muslims organization that pursues the separation of religion and politics, women are killed when they refuse to have an arranged marriage or when they simply have contacts with men who are not family (“Institution for”). This fact seems to indicate that women in Iran do not have any freedom in choosing their husbands or falling in love with men. The cases of honor killing are usually justified in the name of Islam which has a male-oriented tradition and Sharia. However, in reality, there is nothing in the Sharia or Koran that allows or justifies honor killing. According to Tahira Shahid Khan, a professor specializing in women's issues at the Aga Khan University in Pakistan, the concept that women do not have any rights and are the property of men is deeply rooted in Islamic society (“Thousands of women”). In other words, women seem to be in much weaker position than men in the Iranian society. Thus, killing women in the name of honor degrades women and deprives their fundamental human rights.
Ⅱ. Encouraging inequality between men and women
The legal punishment in Iran shows the concept of gender inequality that strongly exists in the society. The law and the legal punishment are harsher on women than men because they are based on the idea that women are inherently inferior to men. For example, there is inequality in terms of the credibility of testimony. According to the writer Nawal El Saadawi
who examines the historical role of Arab women, the testimony of two women in courts is equal to that of one man (xi-xii). This fact seems to imply that women are not capable of giving credible information compared to men. Moreover, the blood money, which is the compensation money to the dead victim’s family of a man, is twice that for a woman (Moghissi 110). In other words, it is officially recognized that woman’s life is less valuable financially than a man’s in Iran. As a consequence, the view that women are less important than men has encouraged the murder of women under the name of keeping family honor. According to the Iranian Chief Justice, Ayatollah Yazdi who served as the head of Judiciary system of Iran, women have to face and live in constant fear of murder because some men threaten their lives (Moghissi 110). Why are there these gender inequalities in Iran? This is because traditionally men have the obligation to keep women’s religious soul pure and sacred in Iran. The family structure is based on conservative and patriarchal systems. Also, men have the moral duty to protect women from dangers in the society. That is why women have a lot of limitations and bindings in their daily lives. However, this means men have justification to punish severely women when rules are broken by women. Actually, Iran is highly male-centered society where the dignity of women is deteriorated. In short, inequality between men and women can be clearly found in the Iranian society.
Conclusion
In conclusion, more humanistic legal punishment on women should be carried out in Iran. As shown above, women are systematically oppressed in Iran at this moment. There is a clear necessity to abolish the cruel legal punishment such as honor killing immediately to save human lives and protect human rights. Unless the government of Iran adopt more humanistic and gender equal punishment, more and more women will be sacrificed and lose their precious lives. The first step of legal reform in Iran is supporting international non-governmental organizations that work to protect the human rights. Human Rights Watch or Amnesty International can contribute to make the legal punishment of Iran more humanistic. Also, the international society should put more pressure on Iran to improve the situation of gender inequality.
Works cited
"A 14 years old girl stoned to death by her father - Iran ...". Iran human rights. Iran human
rights, 15 Feb. 2008. Web. 29 Oct. 2011.
"Honour Killing: A Crime against Islam." Islam Awareness. Islam
Awaremess, Web. 28 Oct. 2011.
"'Honour killings' on the rise." news24. news24, 27 Oct. 2003. Web. 29
Oct. 2011.
"Institution for the Secularization of the Islamic Society." Center
forInquiry. Institution for the Secularization of the Islamic
Society,19 Dec. 2003. Web. 31 Oct. 2011.
Moghissi, Haideh. Feminism and Islamic Fundamentalism. New York:
Zed Books Ltd, 1999. Print.
“Report Honour Killings in Iran”. Landinfo, 22 May. 2009. Web. 30 Oct.
2011.
Saadawi, Nawal El. The Hidden Face of Eve. New York: Zed Books Ltd,
2007.Print.
" The Universal Declaration of Human Rights." the United Nations, Web.
28 Oct. 2011.
"Thousands of Women Killed for Family "Honor"." National Geographic
News 28 Oct. 2010. Web. 28 Oct. 2011.
Source of photograph
Photo 1 < http://thriller.hubpages.com/hub/No-Honor-in-Honour-Killings>