Transcript Murder In The Name of Honor – Rana Husseini

“Honour is respect
for life. Honour is
respect for love.
There is no honour
in murder” – JANE
FONDA , actress ,
writer and political
activist
 The so-called honor crimes, honor crimes. The word
itself does not make complete sense to me and of
course to everyone of you. I never in my life read a
book that talks about honor crimes; I just came across
this phrase while reading crime articles in the
newspaper and heard about them in my daily life. I
never knew their cause, their first existence. “Murder
in the Name of Honor” is a book that is written by the
magnificent Rana Husseini which opened my eyes to
the so-called honor crimes in Jordan, and around the
world.
 Murder in the Name of Honor is a book that sheds the
light on what happens to five thousand women who are
murdered each year in the name of honor all over the
globe. Many cases are never reported and many more so
called honor killings are disguised as suicides and
disappearances.
 This book tells Rana Husseini's story so far, from her
humble beginnings as a naïve but enthusiastic and
stubborn journalist to the campaigns to change Jordan law,
as well as her experiences in other countries in the Middle
East, and investigations into so-called Honor Killings
across Europe. She began a quest that had taken over the
world. Rana was able to report those crimes in depth. As
time passed by, she realized that while reporting those
crimes they were a close step to the right direction . Since
they were never enough, she decided that she had to do
something about it to end these senseless murderers by
starting sensational campaigns across Jordan to change the
law and attitudes in it.
What are So-called Honor crimes ?
 A so-called honor killing occurs when a family feels
that their female relative has tarnished their
reputation by what they loosely label “immoral
behavior.” The person chosen by the family to carry out
the murder (usually male: a brother, father, cousin,
paternal uncle or husband) brutally ends their female
relative’s life to cleanse the family of their ‘shame’ she
brought upon them. The title Honor killing is ironic
in the extreme because these murders, and the
manner in which they are carried lack any honor
whatsoever.
 While Reading this book, I was really shocked to just see
how widespread and out of control the global phenomenon
of Honor killings is across the world, from the Third
World till The first. It takes place in many more countries
people realize besides Afghanistan, Brazil, Mexico, India,
Israel, Pakistan, Morocco….etc. Honor killings also occur
throughout Europe and USA. The number of so-called
honor killings has been rising among immigrant
communities in Europe, specifically Sweden, Germany,
France and the UK. The British police have recently found
out that more than one hundred crime cases in fact have
been so called honor killings.
 Some Examples of Honor Killings in Sweden:
 A Kurdish Wife (2003): A 28-year-old Kurdish man stabs his one-year-younger
wife with 37 slashes in Strangnas. The man did not accept that his wife wanted
to get a divorce. The trial found him guilty and fined him ten years in prison
and banishment from Sweden for life.
 Pela Atroshi (1999): She was shot to death in Dhouk in Iraqi Kurdistan. Her
sister called the Swedish police and reported the murder. Two uncles got a life
sentence for the murder. The father is still wanted by the authorities.
 Umea (1996): A 15-year-old Iraqi girl in Umea was killed by her brother and
cousin after a party. The motive was that she had a Swedish life style.
 Palestinian Girl (1994): A Palestinian man in Vastmanland killed his 18-yearold daughter when she refused to marry the man the father had chosen for her.
Fadime Sahindal (2002): A 26-•
year-old Kurdish girl, was killed in
Uppsala in the evening of the 21st
January. Her father did not accept
that she had a Swedish boyfriend
and wanted to have Swedish life
style. The trial found her father
guilty and he got a life sentence.
Two months before she was killed
she held a speech in the Swedish
Parliament about her life and how
she was treated by her family,
relatives and Swedish authorities.
Gossip is the Source of all Evilness
 Malicious gossiping was the tyrannical element that
incites the rapid number of the so-called honor
murdering. The majority of the so-called honor
killings, Rana Husseini, reported were based on
suspicions. The problem is not restricted to adultery.
Generational conflict, teen culture, urbanization and
adolescent rebellion all trigger factors in immigrant
communities in Europe as well in the Third World.
Degree of Relationship between the Victims and the
Murderer













Husband killing the wife
41 %
Father killing the daughter
34 %
Brother killing the sister
18 %
A man killing his female relative
07
“even if one girl” suffers an honor killing, that’s “one too many.”
This type of murder takes place almost all over
the world, but it is identified in different ways
according to culture, religion, social practices
and gender relations.
This label has been given to such crimes because
they have been, and continue to be, carried out,
justified and excused in the name of "honor".
Honor in the context of these crimes implies the
honor of a man, and by extension the family, who
feels his own and his family's reputation was
disgraced by the behavior of his sister, daughter,
wife or mother.
Often evidence of a crime is not necessary –
gossip and rumor are enough condemnation for
the victim.
 The first question that directly popped into my mind is “why do
many people associate this brutal act to religion? Why justify
themselves through the teachings of
Islam,Christianity,Hindustany…etc?” and luckily, I was able to
answer my question. Well guess what? This brutal act has
nothing to do with Religion, Tradition , Culture or History. It’s all
about control which is an effective way of eliminating the
freedom of movement , freedom of expression and sexuality of
women. They also violate the rights of life, liberty. They also
violate the obstruction of torture and inhuman punishments;
the obstruction of slavery and the right to freedom from gender
based discrimination. Since we’re living in a male-dominant
society, women with a sad thought do not have the right to
justify themselves when being placed in such situations.
Why kill a rape victim instead of
the Rapist ?
 what really outraged me while reading the book is why rape victims are the
ones who pay for it where it should be the rapist instead? Most commonly,
rape, as I see it from my personal perspective, is a crime of opportunity. The
victim is chosen not because of her looks or behavior, but because she is there.
Rana’s first honor crime investigation started with the murder of a 16 year old
girl named Kifaya. It was the 31st of May 1994 when Kifaya’s mother, uncles and
brothers decided that she would die. Kifaya’s crime was to have allowed herself
to be raped by her other brother Mohammad. She had been forced secretly to
abort his child and to marry a man thirty four years her senior, whom she
divorced after six miserable months. She has shamed her family and there was
only one way to fix this by killing her. Khalid, her other brother, was the chosen
one to kill her; on a summery day her family tied her in the kitchen and her
brother Khalid told her to drink a glass of water and recite verses from the
Qur'an. He picked up a knife while Kifaya kept begging him for mercy. Outside
the neighbors listened but did nothing to interfere. Khalid stood outside his
house holding the stained knife and shouting “ I have cleansed my Family’s
honour” while his family were running to congratulate him.
A 15 year old Afghani girl waiting
for her honor killing sentence after
being raped by her father and
brother
 Rana Husseini couldn’t help herself not to interfere in the
murder of Kifaya. She knew that Kifaya’s murder would mark the
beginning of the so-called honor crimes as a national issue. One
day she decided to interview Kifaya’s uncles. All they had to say
about her murder was “Kifaya was not a good girl,” which
ironically sounded like killing a bad girl was acceptable. Kifaya’s
other uncle had to say “ She seduced her brother. She
tarnished the family’s honour and deserved to die” (This is
ridiculous. Why would a girl choose to sleep with her brother if
she wanted to sleep with a man, with firm assurances she won’t
chose to sleep with her brother)
 The murderer, Khalid, was sentenced to fifteen years, but the
sentence was subsequently reduced to seven and a half years, an
extremely severe penalty by Jordanian standards.
 I hate it. I really hate how our society blames women
for every single thing: For being raped, for being
harassed on the streets, for flirting with their
husbands, for husbands who divorce them, for bearing
a child of the wrong gender, for sickness, for letting
their husbands die of un-cured diseases . At least
blame the two sexes , but don’t blame it all on women
just because the hierarchal society has been
marginalizing women for that long.
Two types of Honor ??!!!!!
 While reading the book I was completely shocked to know
that there are two types of honor and that women when
accused of tarnishing their family’s honor would be graded
relating to them. In traditional Arab society, a distinction is
made between two kinds of honor: sharaf and ird.
 Sharaf relates to the honor of such as the Arab tribe or
family, as well as individuals, and it can fluctuate . A failure
by a female individual to follow what is defined as moral
conduct weakens the social status of the family or tribal
unit. To sum up, sharaf translates roughly as the Western
concept of "dignity."
 In contrast, 'ird relates only to the honor of women and its
value can only decrease. It translates roughly as the
Western concept of "chastity" or "purity." And as with
chastity or purity, exemplary moral behavior cannot
increase a woman's 'ird but misconductreduces it. In
addition, 'ird trumps sharaf: the honor of the Arab family
or tribe can be gravely damaged when one of its women's
chastity is violated or when her reputation is tainted. A
violation of a woman's honor requires severe action, as
Tarrad Fayez, a Jordanian tribal leader, explains: "A woman
is like an olive tree. When its branch catches
woodworm, it has to be chopped off so that society
stays clean and pure.
 What behavior amounts to a violation of family honor
is not precisely classified. Basically it involves an
unsupervised contact of a female with a male that may
be interpreted by society as intimate. Such contact can
be trivial: a 15-year old Jordanian girl was stoned to
death by her brother who spotted her walking toward a
house where young boys lived alone. As for rape,
society perceives the violated woman not as a victim
who needs protection but as someone who debased
the family’s honor, and relatives will opt to undo the
shame by taking her life. Failure to do so further
dishonors the family.
A Palestinian woman who
survived an honor killing after her
two brothers caught her talking on
the phone with a man . Her two
brothers kept blemishing her face
until their other relatives
interfered and stopped them.
 Rana Husseini began to write more and more on honor
crimes deeply. With the support of other journalists she
was able to establish herself as the first journalist who
spots the light on Honour Crimes in Jordan . As a result of
her courtesy, she started receiving threatening letters every
once in a while. What she had to comment about this
situation was so influential that left a huge impact on me.
“Threats like these made me all the more determined
to carry on. I had found my life’s mission”. She followed
and listened to her heart and conscience because these
women needed a voice. They were lost souls buried in
unmarked graves as they have never existed.
 Rana Husseini agreed to be part of a documentary that CNN
decided to film in 1999. They wanted to interview prisoners who
had killed their female relatives to cleanse their family’s honor
and were in prison awaiting their court verdict. Sarhan, in his
late twenties, was the one to be interviewed. He killed his sister
to cleanse his family’s honour. His sister , Yasmin, had been
raped by her own brother-in-law and as she knew well the
consequences of such a crime she turned herself in to the police
rather than risk the wrath of her family. And since history
repeats itself, rape victims are the ones to be punished. Sarhan
tried bailing her out but the police refused since they had this
slight feeling that she might be killed because of losing her
virginity. When I finished reading this part I felt relived, Whoaaa
finally a rape victim is saved, Justice is taking place and she
might be given a second chance, but with a sad thought I was
wrong.
 I kept reading the story of Yasmin hoping to expect a better
ending. Her brother Sarhan went to stay at his friend’s house and
asked his relatives to bail his sister out of jail. When he returned
home, he found his sister in the living room, and without
uttering a word, he shot her five times with an unlicensed gun
and turned himself in. He even didn’t give himself the time to
question her or to kill her brother-in-law instead. For me as the
oldest daughter, I thanked God for the first time for not having a
brother, I don’t know what it has to do with this story but I felt
thankful. He killed a sister ! A sister who shares his blood and
flesh, what about the memories he shared while growing up with
her? Was it all simply forgotten because of the family’s honor?
Why not reverse the whole situation and kill the brother-in-law
instead? Why not kill the complete stranger instead of the close
relative one?
 Sarhan Killed Yasmin because she’s no longer a virgin. He
comments on his tyrannical act to Rana by saying, “ She made a
mistake, willingly or not. It is better that one person dies
than the whole family live in shame and disgrace.” He also
says, “ It is like a box of apples. If you have one rotten apple
would you keep it or get rid of it? I just got rid of the rotten
apple.” My reaction was completely speechless, is he serious? Is
he aware of what he’s actually saying? God, he’s comparing a soul
to a lifeless object ! From where on earth does this cold-hearted
creature come from? What also annoyed me is how strict and
aware he is of abiding by society’s own rules. He also mentions
that people refused to talk with them and society ordered them
to cleanse their honor. The only solution to end disgrace was
Death. He preferred society to his sister just to be accepted.
Three Jordanian prisoners waiting for their
court verdict after killing their female
relatives to cleanse their family’s honor .
 And, of course, Sarhan received a lenient penalty when the facts
of his sister’s case were clear. This leniency was made possible by
article 98 of the Penal Code which permits those acting in a “fit”
reduced penalties. This is not fair. Yasmin who turned herself
and risked her reputation in order to be protected by the police
and all she receives then is a sudden murder. Another statement
that infuriated me is when Rana interviewed the judge to ask his
opinion on the murder of Yasmin, he had to say, “ The rape
happened within family, so it was clearly a family affair.
Sarhan killed his sister after family encouragement, so this
murder was a product of our culture.” But what about
Yasmin’s life? What, was her life worth nothing? Well, the only
justice I felt was when every woman refused to marry Sarhan
because he killed his sister including a daughter of one of his
uncles who encouraged him to kill Yasmin, his sister.
Shaima Rezayee, a
popular vee-jay. Rezayee
herself was a central
focus of the criticism,
mainly for her western
style of dress. This was
believed by the religious
authorities to be
'corrupting' the youth of
Afghanistan .These
factors has led to her
death, where then she
was shot to death in her
home.
 Both Murderers, Khalid and Sarhan, realized that what
they did was against the Islamic Law. According to both of
their families, society is stronger than religion. Both
murderers stated the reason behind killing her which is to
cleanse the honor of their families. Society imposes rules
on them and they did it because they wanted to please
society. We live in a backward society that imposes
backward ideas on their lives. This made me realize
something. Khalid and Sarhan were like their sisters, but to
a lesser extent, victims of their own society, victims of
ancient and unfair traditions that turned them from
normal human beings into killers.
 In the autumn of 1995, Zarqa witnessed another so- called
honor crime. A thirty-year-old man shot his two sisters and
then fled before turning himself in the following day. And
of course, as usual, the motive of this crime is Honor
killing. Rana travelled all the way to Zarqa to investigate
this story. Everyone in the town assured her that the two
sisters named Kifaya and Nadia are known for their
morality and they were killed by their brother Mohammad
for their inheritance. Mohammad was known for the
reputation of a trouble maker and had a criminal record.
He shot both them. Everyone knew that Mohammad
quarreled with his two sisters regularly about the share of
inheritance. He wanted them to give their share up to him
but since they refused , he decided to kill them.
`
Victims that were brutally killed
in Honor crimes
A Pakistani mother of three being buried
alive by her aunt , husband and two
brothers because of committing adultery
 During Mohammad’s trial, he claimed that on the morning of the incident he stopped by
the house to pick up his mother. After she came down, she realized she forgot something
and Mohammad offered to bring it for her. He knocked the door of his apartment. His
sisters took a while to answer and when they did, they looked scared and confused. He
became suspicious, searched the house and found a strange man inside . The man
pushed him and fled. He claimed he tried to catch him, but failed instead he turned to
the apartment to face his two sisters. He also claimed that the two sisters started accusing
each other by telling him “ this man is not mine.” Mohammad drew a gun and shot his
sister Nadia in the head while Kifaya tried to escape from the window he shot her down
three times. During the trial there was no testimony from a witness or family member
mentioning the inheritance. There was no mention of any stranger leaving the house
apart from the neighbor who heard footsteps. But what really kept bothering me is why
didn’t they ask Mohammad on why he chose to kill his sisters instead of going after the
man allegedly found in their room. This is ridiculous because it was much easier for
Mohammad to catch this man by asking the busy market to help him capture him. The
court didn’t even ask Mohammad if the man was an intruder who broke into the house.
And what was the unexpected surprise? He was only sentenced to one year in prison.
This really frustrated me.
 Different stories in different timings and settings, but they all talk about one
issue: killing in the name of honor. Women are not allowed to love, and loving
someone from a different religion is considered as a vice. I actually once read a
book by Leila Aboleila titled “ The Translator” which talks about two people
falling in love from two different religions. What obsticaled their love regularly
was religion and the idea of conversion. But the story ends happily when the
Christian man converts into Islam to marry the protagonist. In contrast with
the harsh reality , the novel opposes the upcoming story that broke my heart. A
man shot his 29 year old sister dead. He said she was a Christian and had
planned to marry a Muslim man. The real reason that was thought to be was
that he wanted to take over the flat her fiance had given to her and move into it
with his mother. This time because the woman’s fiance was influential, the
killer ended up receiving a fifteen year prison term but this was reduced half
after his mother dropped the charges against him. Why not find the easy way
where either one of them convert to the other’s religion, or ooh society does not
allow that. Why don’t we have those two characters in Leila’s novel to advocate
for this change? Why should we consider love to a different religion sinful?
Three Indonesian girls were beheaded for having a relation ship with a man
from a different religion.
“No, you are not allowed to fall in love “
 Father to Daughter : You are going to marry your cousin.
 Daughter: But I don’t love him. I actually don’t have feelings for him.
 Father: Love. How dare you talk with me about love? Have you completely lost
your mind? It’s not necessary to love him, just marry him.
 Daughter: But father how can I marry someone I
 don’t love and have feelings for.
 Father: You immoral insect. What are you planning to do, disgrace. . .
 Daughter (Interrupts): Father, I love someone else and he’ll be coming over to
ask for my hand.
 Father: That’s it, I don’t need you to disgrace me at the edge of my living years…
 Daughter: I AM NOT GOING TO MARRY MY COUSIN !
 Father: (BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMH)
 I cleansed my honor! I shot my daughter because she loves someone who is
completely unacceptable.
Two woman were killed in an honor
crime and their bodies were thrown
near the garbage, as if they were
rotten creatures
What a price to pay. This beautiful
young woman was beheaded and her
head thrown in the street as a warning
to other Islamic women for not
tarnishing their families' honor.
 Another story that broke my heart and was devastating. All her life 23 year old
Rania had been told by her parents that she would grow marrying her cousin.
But when she went to the university, she met an Iraqi student named Khalid
and fell in love with him. In June 1997, unable to face marriage to her cousin,
for who she felt nothing except a normal familial bond, she ran away from
home just a few days before their wedding and moved in with Khalid. A couple
of months after fleeing from her home, Jordanian TV broadcast a live
programme about honor crimes. The Presenter had read a heart breaking
letter Rania has sent to the station which she asked for her family’s forgiveness
and understanding. In the letter, Rania assured the family that her love Khalid
was not the reason why she did not want to marry her cousin and thought of
him as a brother. She wrote that she had tried to convince her uncle and cousin
to drop the idea but they refused. Rania said that her cousin told her that she
had meant to be his wife ever since they were children and that when she
marries him she will learn how to love. As I see it from my point of view, her
cousin is toying with her feelings; he’s ordering her to be his wife and the
ridiculous part is that he already predicted her feelings as if she was a fictional
character in a movie game.
Crimes of Honour
documents the terrible reality of
femicide - the belief that a girl’s
body is the property of the family,
and any suggestion of sexual
impropriety must be cleansed with
her blood.
The movie meets with women who
are hiding from their families, a
brother who describes his reasons
for killing the sister he loved, and a
handful of women who have
committed themselves to the
protection of young women in
danger of losing their lives.
 However, Rania wasn’t able to stay away for too long
from her family so she wrote them a letter and begged
them to forgive her. Her father called the Jordanian TV
promising them that he wouldn’t harm his daughter,
that all they wanted was for her to return and that the
wedding plans have been canceled. A joyful Rania
agreed to meet her family at a police station, where she
was handed over to her father who signed a JD 5,000
bond that guaranteed he wouldn’t harm his daughter.
Relief took all over me, I thought at the beginning that
no one would dare to harm her. But wait! I should have
kept those thoughts to myself.
 To conclude what happens to Rania. After two weeks, Rania’s two
aunts took pity on her and decided to set her a secret meeting
with Khalid. Rania felt appreciative. They arrived and as they
were on their way walking near some railway lines, her aunts
suddenly ran off. Instead of finding Khalid, Rania found her
seventeen-year-old brother with a pistol and she was directly
killed. Later after her death, medical examinations indicated
that Rania was still a virgin. I was outraged by this heartbreaking story. Rania, an innocent child, was betrayed by two of
her closest members in her family. I believe the moral in this
story I received was never trust anyone even your closest ones.
Well, I wanted to know this, what about the guarantee the Father
agreed to sign? Ironically the father was really intelligent to
travel out of the country while the murder happened because in
this way, the charges are dropped.
INDIAN ELDERS GET DEATH
FOR HONOR KILLING:
First Capital Punishment For
This Crime...!
The village elders hunted the young
couple down, dragging them from a bus,
strangling the groom and forcing his
bride to drink pesticide in an honor
killing with roots thousands of years old.
But for the first time, India has sentenced
the murderers to death for their actions,
setting up a showdown between longheld tradition and cries for overhauling
what some say are archaic rules, reports
the Washington Post.
The ruling, which condemned five village
elders to death for murdering the couple
for violating laws designed to prevent
even distant relatives from marrying, has
split the village and the region, finds the
Post. Some, like the groom's mother, feel
marriage laws are in need of an overhaul.
"My son did the honorable thing by
marrying the girl he loved," she says.
Others are outraged—not at the double
murder, but at the lovers' transgressions:
"Manoj and Babli rubbed our village's
name in mud," a local farmer says.
Read more:
http://www.newser.com/story/8993
5/india-elders-get-death-in-honor
killing.html#ixzz0taTskg00
A 16-year-old girl was buried
alive in a Turkish village as
punishment for talking to
boys. Police discovered her
body after a tipoff. She was
found sitting up, with her
hands tied and soil in her
lungs, buried in a hole
behind her family's home in
Kahta in southeastern
Turkey. Her father and
grandfather are being held
by police, but it's not clear if
they have been charged with
a crime, reports the
Guardian. The horrifying
death has reopened
national debate about socalled "honor killings,"
which account for half of all
murders in Turkey.
Have Honor killers been
exempted from the death
penalty in the United States?
Glendale [Arizona] man accused of slaying his daughter , 20-yearold Noor Almaleki, for being “too Westernized in an “honor killing”
will not face the death penalty.
After sparring with the suspect’s defence attorney over its death
penalty review process, the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office has
said it will not seek death for Faleh Almaleki, 49..”
Police say he used his Jeep Cherokee to run down his daughter and
another woman in a Peoria parking lot Oct. 20. Noor Almaleki later
died of her injuries.
Almaleki is charged with first-degree murder, aggravated assault
and two counts of leaving the scene of a serious accident. He has
pleaded not guilty to all charges.
The decision not to seek the death penalty comes after Almaleki’s
attorney, Billy Little, a public defender, asked a judge to take
special precautions to ensure the County Attorney’s Office wouldn’t
wrongly seek the death penalty because Almaleki is a Muslim.
Little requested that the office make public the process it uses to
determine whether to seek capital punishment.
“to County Attorney Andrew Thomas’ Christian faith.
Laura Reckart, a county prosecutor, responded that Little’s concern
about the “supposed bias” of the office’s death penalty review
process was “without legitimate factual or legal basis.”
She wrote that the state can seek the death penalty for any person
convicted of first-degree murder if it can prove the existence of at
least one aggravating assault. However, the debate stopped there.
On Tuesday, Reckart filed a motion indicating prosecutors would
not seek the death factor, not because of religion.
Mike Scerbo, a spokesman for the County Attorney’s Office, issued
the following statement Friday:
“The defendant is charged with first degree murder and, if
convicted, will spend the rest of his life in prison. As is in all first
degree murder cases, the decision on whether to seek the death
penalty is made on a case by case basis. Cultural considerations
played no part in the decision not to seek the death penalty.”
 A massive problem for women who felt their lives might be in
danger was that they had nowhere safe to run. Once they left
their family home they were on their own. And unlikely to
receive help from other people, lest they be rejected with the
same of brush of dis-honour.There is still however one
extraordinary place that protects woman but in a way that is
deeply and tragically flawed. I am about to write a story that also
left me furious. In the summer of 1995, 23 year old Inas eloped
with her lover, a talented musician with whom she had been in
love. They came from a remote area in Jordan where Inas’s
strictly conservative family had insisted that she marry her
cousin, where she found it unfair. Inas and her lover decided to
escape to Syria. On the borders, her uncle was waiting for them.
Pointing his gun, he fired repeatedly at his niece. Inas was hit in
her shoulders, arms, legs and chest, where she was rushed
directly to a governmental hospital. She pulled through as I
believe because of her incredible strong desire to live. Her lover
who was unharmed was arrested, tried and imprisoned for two
years of committing adultery and what happened to her uncle?
He was sentenced to two years in prison.
 After Inas had recovered, she was sent to prison. She would
still be there long after her would-be murderer was
released. During Rana’s visit to Jweideh Correctional and
rehabilitation Center , she met with Inas and stated that
around twenty to twenty-five women were detained, many
for indefinite periods and with no official charges, under
what the Government calls ‘protective custody’ or
“administrative detention.” These women are kept in prison
out of fear their families might kill them for violating their
families honor. There are no accurate statics on how many
women live in this prison. In July 2003, Hanna Afghani, the
police major in charge of the Jwedieh center, told The
Human Rights Watch that 97 inmates were administrative
detainees.
 Many of these women have been in prison for over a
decade. They have wasted their precious youth in tiny
cells, mixing with real criminals because they might be
killed if released. Inescapable, there remain only two
ways out of Jweideh for those women in protective
custody:
 A- An immediate male relative visits the prison and
asks for his sister/daughter to be freed. He has to sign a
guarantee worth $7,000 that he will not harm her.
 B- A male bidder, typically an old man looking for
companions, visits the prison and asks to marry any
woman prepared to be released into his custody.
 To my amazement while reading the book, I came across a
second option that relates to the second former example. A
withered old man in his seventies came to the prison and stated
his desire to marry any woman in ‘protective custody’ if she was
willing to take care of his children and land. The director
summoned one of the inmates and informed her of the deal. She
agreed directly and was released. Those women never had
visitors, their families never came and visited them as if they
never existed. Many lost ambition; they no longer desired
anything even their freedom. I don’t blame their giving up
because no matter if they were in or out of prison, they’re dead
either way. The government was apathetic and unwilling to
change. A minister once said, “ We cannot lock up an entire
tribe or family. We really do not like or want to imprison
women, but what can we do? The concept of {Family}
honour is socially imbedded in our society.”
 In February 1999 , a pharmacist named Basil Burgan contacted Rana Husseini
and proposed to start a movement in Jordan. The movement did not only raise
local awareness about these brutal killings but also to fight to change Jordanian
Law and to demand together punishments for the perpetrators of these crimes.
They decide to name themselves the Jordanian National Committee to
Eliminate So-called Honor Crimes. The committee included Muna Darawzeh,
Asma Khader, Najwa Ghanoum and many more. They wanted to change two
laws by encouraging people to sign petitions. The two laws they were targeting
to change were Article 98 that says “Any person who commits a crime in a
fit of fury caused by an lawful and dangerous act on the part of the
victim benefits from a reduction in penalty.” Article 370 included two
clauses. One stated, “ He who discovers his wife, or one of his female
relatives committing adultery (with a man) and kills, wounds or injuries
one or both of them, is exempted from any penalty.” The other clause
stated, “ He who discovers his wife, or one of his female relatives with
another in an adulterous situation, and kills, wounds or injuries one or
both of them, benefits from a reduction in penalty.”
My illustration to this picture: this is
the hand of society, the violating
hand which dehumanizes women,
just because they are “Wo-men.”
A picture that voices itself. You people
kill your daughters the same way you
slay your farm sheep.
Honor Killing Awareness Campaign: Freedom Taxis Hit
the Streets of Chicago
 I was really outraged when I saw and read about the campaign that was
launched in Chicago to fight honor killings because they were referring to this
whole act as part of Islam. It would have been really amazing if they were
launching it as a universal issue and not referring to Islam only. The website
they included on each taxi was ”LeaveIslamSafely.com”. Islam has nothing to
do with Honor Killings. Honor killings is a tribal, cultural and medieval act that
was never justified in any formal Islamic law. People relate this act to Islam to
justify their personal purposes. For example in Saudi Arabia, tenth-grade
textbooks teach Saudi children that it is permissible to kill adulterers. In April
2008, a girl was killed by her father for talking to a boy on Facebook. A leading
Saudi cleric, Sheikh Ali al-Maliki, was outraged that girls had access to such
websites where they could post pictures of themselves and otherwise "behave
badly," but showed no concern over the girl actually killed .
This label has been given to such crimes because they have been, and continue
to be, carried out, justified and excused in the name of "honor.”
 Fighting honor crimes started to take place as
campaigns by courageous Arab women around the
world; for example, in the USA, such campaigns
happen regularly.
Anti Honor killing Campaigns are
also widely spread on social
networks
Advertisement of a campaign
against honor killings in India
 Rana draws attention to Ayaan Hirsi Ali’s fight against honor killings.
Ayaan Xirsi Cali is a Dutch feminist activist, writer, politician and
founder of the women's rights organization the AHA Foundation. She
is the daughter of the Somali scholar, politician, and revolutionary
opposition leader Hirsi Magan Isse.

 When she was eight, Hirsi Ali's family left Somalia for Saudi Arabia,
then Ethiopia, and eventually settled in Kenya. She sought and
obtained political asylum in the Netherlands in 1992, under
circumstances that later became the center of a political controversy. In
2003, she was elected a member of the House of Representatives,
representing the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD). A
political crisis surrounding the potential stripping of her Dutch
citizenship led to her resignation from the parliament, and led
indirectly to the fall of the second Balkan cabinet.
Ayan
Hirsi Ali
Finally, I’d like to dedicate this book report to every woman/girl who lost their life
because of honor killing. And I would like to apologize on behalf of every other citizen
here in Jordan for not being able to help, or at least “Trying to do something” and “To
make a difference”
 Rana Husseini opened my eyes to a lot of things. Not only
did I get exposed to honor crimes in its deepest levels, but I
also learned my lesson. Before 4 years, my friend and I were
walking around her area, and I saw this man beating his
wife on the street, no one interfered, including me, I just
stood there watching, hopelessly, afraid of the
consequences that I might encounter if I interfered. I
regret it now. Maybe next time when a woman is about to
get killed in an honor crime we might do something. We
might interfere not caring about the consequences. It’s
time for me and for each and everyone to “Unleach our
Voice” to get out there and do something to stop this. To
end violence against women.
 My message to all those victims and survivors of forced
marriages and honor based crimes, and sadly to those
who lost their lives at the end of such heinous crimes:
 Please forgive me , forgive me for not being
completely aware of what was happening around
me , for not interfering and trying to make an
effort to stop your murdering. You all deserve a
second chance. Just like everyone on this planet
does . I am deeply sorry.
 My final message to my hero Rana Husseini, who
works tirelessly to effect change:
 “You Are Not Alone. I am almost there to join the
train of establishing a change.”
PreparedBy – Haneen
Munzer Amireh