Posted on Mon, Jan 30, 2012 @ 01:17 PM
Ayaan's take on the verdict of the Shafia trial, also seen in the Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/ayaan-hirsi-ali/shafi-trial_b_1244322.html?ref=canada
After deliberating for only 15 hours, the jury in the Canadian Shafia "honor killing" trial returned a verdict: all three defendants guilty of first-degree murder. For the premeditated murder of teenage daughters Zainab, Sahar, and Geeti, and first wife Rona, Mohammad, Tooba Yahya, and Hamed Shafia will now begin serving life sentences.
The details of this quadruple homicide have been well documented. But Justice Robert Maranger, who presided over the 12-week trial, gave perhaps the best summary of the case as he imposed the sentence on the defendants:
"It's difficult to conceive of a more heinous, more despicable, more honourless crime. The apparent reason behind these cold-blooded, shameful murders was that the four completely innocent victims offended your twisted notion of honour, a notion of honour founded upon the domination and control of women, a sick notion of honour that has no place in any civilized society."
The verdict in the Shafia case exemplifies the ability of Western legal systems to provide justice to victims of honor violence. In other parts of the world, killing in the name of honor serves as a defense to murder charges. I applaud the Crown attorney in Ontario for having the courage to pursue an honor violence motive in this case. They are among a small group of prosecutors in North America willing to recognize honor killings for what they are: a shameful form of violence against women supported by insidious notions of honor.
I also commend the judge and jury for thoughtfully reviewing the evidence and coming to the only logical conclusion: that the defendants committed premeditated murder because of a deranged notion of familial honor. Other prosecutors presenting cases with similar motives to Western juries have not fared as well. Last year, the judge presiding over the trial of Faleh Almaleki in Phoenix, Arizona for the murder of his daughter, Noor, rejected the prosecutor's theory that the father was motivated by the same deranged notion of family honor despite ample evidence that Almaleki murdered his daughter because of his displeasure with her increasingly Western lifestyle. The jury in that case also missed the mark by failing to convict Almaleki of first-degree murder and instead finding him guilty of murder in the second degree. To be sure, this verdict ensures that Almaleki will spend the remainder of his life in prison; however, it falls short of recognizing the hateful, premeditated nature of his crime and the full extent of Noor's suffering.
There are undoubtedly other cases of honor violence and honor killings in the West that do not receive international media attention and, indeed, do not even receive adequate attention from local law enforcement and service providers. If anything positive can come from the Shafia verdict, let it be that law enforcement throughout North America takes the time to educate themselves about honor violence. Violence and murder justified by perverted notions of family honor are happening here and the victims are most often the young women who embrace Western culture with their entire hearts and souls. It seems little to ask in return that we protect them from suffering unspeakable harm, and even death, for doing so.
Posted on Thu, Jan 19, 2012 @ 02:24 PM
Sahar Shafia, honor killing victim
In Kingston, Ontario, the Shafia murder trial has entered its final stage. Dozens of witnesses have testified in support of the prosecutors’ theory: that a father, mother and son conspired to murder the four disobedient females who threatened to pollute the honor of their polygamous Afghan family.
As the chilling details of this quadruple homicide have emerged, new attention has been directed at the phenomenon of honor killings in Canadian society. This attention is long overdue. Honor violence, a global blight that occurs with devastating frequency in developing countries like Pakistan and Jordan, has claimed an increasing number of North American victims in recent years.
Unfortunately, despite increased awareness of the problem, little has been done to improve the circumstances of women at risk of honor crimes. The true frequency of honor violence remains largely unknown, and most government agencies are poorly equipped to identify potential honor crimes and assist their victims. Canada and the United States lag behind Great Britain, where social workers, law enforcement officials and prosecutors receive special training in the dynamics of honor-based culture and the warning signs that may foretell an impending crime of honor.
Recently, a number of Canadian Muslim organizations issued public statements denouncing honor killings as violations of Islam. Yet other advocacy groups have objected to the term “honor killing” itself, claiming that it stigmatizes Muslims and perpetuates misunderstandings about the nature of Islam. These individuals argue that honor violence is simply one manifestation of domestic violence, and that it is discriminatory to distinguish honor killings from the broader category of domestic violence, which takes place within all cultures.
Respectfully, these arguments miss the point. Although honor violence shares certain traits with domestic violence, its unique features necessitate a distinct name and approach. In the West, domestic violence is viewed as a crime and the perpetrator’s behavior is typically condemned by his family and community. In contrast, honor killings are justified in the name of culture and/or religion, and support for honor violence may be found in Shariah law. Additionally, honor crimes are rarely planned and committed by the individual alone; rather, the perpetrator’s behavior is often condoned and facilitated by the family (including the females) and the community at large. Whereas a victim of domestic violence may have an extensive support network of family and friends, a victim of honor violence is likely to be shunned by family and community because she is perceived to have caused the violence through her own behavior.
For these reasons, the domestic violence model employed by service providers and law enforcement is ill-suited for effectively investigating and intervening in honor violence cases. Moreover, casting honor crimes under the generalized category of domestic violence prevents the collection of reliable data as to the nature and frequency of honor violence, which, in turn, prevents government from allocating resources to this distinct problem. Perhaps most importantly, the failure to identify honor crimes as such avoids confronting the misogynistic beliefs that pervade certain communities.
For those dedicated to the fair and equal treatment of women, the recent spate of North American honor killings demands both denunciation from the communities in which such crimes occur, and the identification of strategies to prevent them from recurring. But before this can take place, honor crimes must be called what they are: a shameful form of violence against women supported by insidious notions of honor. To shy away from this label imperils the lives of women for the sake of political correctness.
Posted on Mon, Oct 24, 2011 @ 06:45 PM
See below for a blog by Ayaan Hirsi Ali on the Canadian honor killings currently facing trial in Ontario and how they should have been prevented. First published in the Huffington Post.
***
Horrific details of an alleged mass honour killing emerged in a crowded Ontario courtroom last week: Three young sisters and their polygamous father's first wife were murdered in the name of religious purity, according to the Crown prosecutor: A staged car accident, plotted and executed, allegedly by the father, mother and brother of 19-year-old Zainab, 17-year-old Sahar, and 13-year-old Gheeti Shafia, whose reportedly brazen refusal to comply with the traditions imposed on Afghan females so polluted the family's honour that only death could remove its taint. In the chilling words of the girls' father, Mohammad Shafia, "They betrayed Islam" by consorting with boys, posing seductively for cell phone photographs, and refusing to wear the hijab. "God's curse on them for generations. May the devil (expletive) on their graves. Is that what a daughter should be? Would a daughter be such a whore?"
According to the Crown, prior to their deaths, the girls repeatedly sought help from law enforcement and professional service providers, but their cries for help ultimately went unmet.
In Western consciousness, honour killings are most frequently associated with poor, developing countries where women are granted few, if any, social and political rights. Yet this alleged quadruple homicide -- apparently the violent manifestation of a deep-seated cultural and religious misogyny, according to the Crown -- took place far from the Shafia family's native Afghanistan. The bodies of Mr. Shafia's 50-year-old wife, Rona, and his three spirited daughters were found near Kingston, Ontario, floating inside a submerged vehicle in the Rideau Canal.
Mr. Shafia, 58, now faces four counts of first degree murder, along with his second wife, Tooba Mohammad Yahya, 41, and the pair's 20-year-old son Hamed Shafia. On Thursday, Crown prosecutor Laurie Lacelle delivered a detailed opening address to the jury. Citing excerpts from Ms. Mohammad's private diary and wiretapped conversations recorded days after the murders, Ms. Lacelle painted a disturbing picture of the abuse and oppression that dominated the lives of the Shafia women. But perhaps the most tragic aspect of this story is, if it was indeed an honour killing, how easily the deaths of these four women could have been prevented.
In 1980, Mohammad Shafia married Rona Amir Mohammad in a lavish Kabul ceremony. Several years later, when it became apparent that Ms. Mohammad was infertile, he took Ms. Yahya as a second wife. Mohammad's status fell sharply as Yahya bore seven children in rapid succession. Though increasingly relegated to the sidelines of the marriage, Mohammad played a substantial role in the children's upbringing.
In 1992, the family left Afghanistan. They lived in Pakistan, Australia and Dubai before immigrating to Canada in 2007. Shafia, a successful businessman, purchased a triplex in the Montreal borough of Saint Leonard. When he left town on business, his eldest son, Hamed, was appointed head of the household.
It was, according to Lancelle, a household filled with repression, rebellion, and deep tensions. Ms. Mohammad took to her diary to describe the ongoing physical abuse perpetrated by her husband, and the insults and small humiliations levied by Ms. Yayha.
Zainab, Sahar and Gheeti sounded the alarm bells more noisily. Zainab, who was removed from school after Shafia discovered that she had a boyfriend, eventually fled to a women's shelter. Sahar, who loved wearing makeup and fashionable clothes, was spotted with a boy in a restaurant by her 12-year-old brother. He reprimanded her on the spot. She later attempted suicide, the court heard. Gheeti, who was caught shoplifting and sent home from school for dressing inappropriately, repeatedly told authorities that she wanted to be placed in a foster home.
The experiences of the Shafia sisters are becoming all too familiar. A recent spate of honour violence perpetrated in the United States exemplifies the tragic incompatibility between Western liberties and radical Islam. Yet despite increased awareness of these issues, honour crimes remain widely under-reported. Currently, there is no clear picture of the rate at which women fall victim to honour violence, let alone the number of women who submit to the demands of male family members in fear of such violence. Early information gathered from service providers in key states indicates that the problem is more widespread than previously imagined.
Absent specific awareness and training, police officers, crisis centers and social workers are likely ill-equipped to deal with these issues. Although honour violence shares several traits with domestic violence and child abuse, its unique cultural features warrant a specialized approach from social service providers and law enforcement officials. Reported threats of honour violence must be taken seriously. The risks faced by women seeking protection from the state must not be ignored.
This point is vividly illustrated by the manner in which Canadian authorities responded to the Shafia girls' cries for help, according to the Crown. On more than one occasion, Quebec child protection officials investigated complaints from Sahar and Gheeti's school. In the first instance, Sahar clammed up after learning that the social worker was required to tell her parents what they'd discussed. Two days later, Sahar told the social worker that things at home had improved. On another occasion, the girls begged a stranger to call 911 from a street corner near their home, because they felt that their lives were in danger. Police came to the house, but Shafia arrived during the interview and the sisters changed their story.
In June of this year, the AHA Foundation, an organization I founded to help protect women and girls in the West from oppression justified by religion or culture, held a conference on forced marriage and honour violence. The aim of this conference was to share with law enforcement and service providers information on how to identify these cases, best practices for investigating and prosecuting cases of honour violence and honour killings, and guidance on how to protect potential victims. Had any of the numerous contacts the Shafia girls reached out to attended such a training, these women would very likely be alive today.
If anything can be taken from the untimely death of the four Shafia women, it is this: honour violence is happening in North America and our institutions need to quickly educate themselves to be able to properly respond to save lives. These girls embrace our culture and expect that we will protect them from the savagery they left behind in their home countries -- we owe it to them to do no less.
