Honor crimes: America's Hidden culture of abuse

by Infidelesto on January 31, 2008 · View Comments

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FoxNews has a a really good report revealing the growing abuse within Islamic families in America and how secrecy trumps most domestic crimes for fear of “dishonor” in the family.   Many times, as we’ve seen over the last few years, these domestic abuses end up in an “Honor Killing” to cleanse the honor of the family.

Many Muslim immigrant women do not even know that they are victims of a crime. That’s because in their home country it may be legal or acceptable for men to physically punish or even kill their wives and daughters for dishonoring the family.

And when an immigrant woman tries to get help, advocates say, an abusive husband often will threaten to have her deported.

“Within our community we are still struggling with the issue of domestic abuse,” says Hadayai Majeed, who runs the Baitul Salaam shelter in Atlanta, which caters to Muslim women.

She says women and girls who come to the shelter sometimes have been physically punished for what their fathers, husbands and brothers believe is behavior that dishonors the family.

Dating a non-Muslim or not wearing a traditional head scarf can trigger a beating.

“This can be interpreted as being extremely rebellious or be an excuse for abuse,” Majeed says.

Not only is this behavior culturally accepted in many Islamic countries, but it is encouraged. Last year a prominent Saudi cleric went on television to tell Muslim men how to properly beat their wives.

In the video he instructs viewers: “Beating in the face is forbidden … even if you want your camel or donkey to start walking, you are not allowed to beat it in the face. If this is true for animals, it is all the more true when it comes to humans”

Read the whole article 

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  4. Jordanian family drops all charges in son's 'honor killing' of sister
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  • ERS

    Unfortunately, there are some errors in that article. For example, the dishonor killings of the Said sisters weren’t the first in the U.S. Just a few days prior, an entire family was taken out in one in suburban Chicago. And there have been others (see the discussion area of http://www.stophonourkilling.com).

    Ellen R. Sheeley, Author
    “Reclaiming Honor in Jordan”

  • ERS

    I just wrote this letter to the editor at Fox:

    Dear Sir/Madam:

    Regarding “Abuse of U.S. Muslim Women Is Greater Than Reported, Advocacy Groups Say” (Julie Kirtz, January 31, 2008), while I am grateful that you are reporting about this subject, there are a number of errors in this article. Please allow me to address the most glaring.

    Firstly, in the case of the Said sisters of suburban Dallas, the author writes: “The great-aunt called the murders “honor killings” for bringing shame to the family, a charge Islam Said, the girls’ brother, denies.” The great aunt did call these murders dishonor killings, for, to a highly experienced eye, that is what they obviously are. However, Islam Said did not deny this. What he said is that these crimes have nothing to do with Islam, nothing to do with the perpetrator’s faith. Since dishonor killings pre-date Islam by centuries and are, in fact, un-Islamic, what Islam Said said can also be correct. These are not contradictory statements.

    Secondly, the author writes: “To date, there officially are no documented cases of honor killings in the United States. The recent slayings of Amina and Sarah Said, however, have triggered a debate over whether this is the first. . .” While it may be the case that dishonor killings in the U.S. are not officially recorded in crime statistics separately from other types of murders, the dishonor killings of the Said sisters are most certainly not the first. Just a few days prior, in suburban Chicago, there was another dishonor killing. A father set fire to the apartment building of his daughter, killing her, her husband, their child, and their fetus, because he believed his daughter had married beneath her caste. Other American cases have been documented by me and others in the discussion area of http://www.stophonourkilling.com.

    Respectfully,
    Ellen R. Sheeley, Author
    “Reclaiming Honor in Jordan”

  • Tonto

    What happens if one of these women waits til the guy is asleep and she “does a job” on HIM? Lots of american women have gotten thier revenge while their tormentor was sleeping. Baseball bats, frying pans, crazy glue, scalding water have all been used to good effect in the states. What happens when muslim broads learn this behavior? What if the broad just kills him first?

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