The Profiles of Victims,Perpetrators,and Unfounded Beliefs in Honor Killings in Turkey

Abstract

Despite Turkey’s increasing awareness of honor killings, many unfounded beliefs and assumptions still pervade concerning the general profiles of victims, perpetrators, and the crimes committed. These erroneous views are predicated upon a plethora of weak generalizations rather than robust research evidence. Yet, such claims have a significant impact on both the regulations aiming to combat these killings and the working practices of the officers struggling to prevent their occurrence. By deploying a qualitative interview method, corroborated by court rulings and prison files, and reflecting views of prisoners who have committed murder in the name of honor (namus) in Turkey, the author, herein, attempts to construct a data-based description of honor killing.

Keywords

honor killings Turkey victims perpetrators unfounded beliefs

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Alonso

A. A.

(1996). Rationalizing patriarchy: Gender, domestic violence, and law in Mexico. Identities: Global Studies in Culture and Power, 2, 29-47.

Anderson

(2008). Violence against women: State responsibilities in international human rights law to address harmful “masculinities.” Netherlands Quarterly of Human Rights, 26, 173-197.

Baker

N. V.

Gregware

P. R.

Cassidy

M. A.

(1999). Family killing fields: Honor rationales in the murder of women. Violence Against Women, 5, 164-184.

Baumert

Thimm

(Producers), Deiß

Goll

(Authors/Directors). (2012, February 24). Verlorene Ehre: Der Irrweg der Familie Sürücü [Lost honor: The story of the Sürücü family] [German TV documentary]. Berlin, Germany: Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg, RBB, (Berlin-Brandenburg Broadcasting), Arbeitsgemeinschaft – der öffentlich-rechtlichen Rundfunkanstalten – der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, ARD, (Consortium of the public-law broadcasting institutions of the Federal Republic of Germany).

BBC. (Producer). (2007, December 4). Honour kills [TV documentary]. London, England: BBC, BBC3.

Begikhani

(2005). Honour-based violence among the Kurds: The case of Iraqi Kurdistan. In Welchman

Hossain

(Eds.), “Honour” crimes, paradigms, and violence against women (pp. 209-229). London, England: Zed Books.

Bettiga-Boukerbout

M. G.

(2005). “Crimes of honour” in the Italian Penal Code: An analysis of history and reform. In Welchman

Hossain

(Eds.), “Honour” crimes, paradigms, and violence against women (pp. 230-244). London, England: Zed Books.

Bilefsky

(2006, July 16). How to avoid honor killing in Turkey? Honor suicide. The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/16/world/europe/16turkey.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

Bourdieu

(1966). The sentiment of honour in Kabyle society. In Peristiany

J. G.

(Ed.), Honour and shame: The values of Mediterranean society (pp. 191-241). London, England: Weidenfeld & Nicolson.

10.

Campaign against honour killings in Turkey. Retrieved at February 25, 2009 from http://honourkillings.gn.apc.org/facts.htm

11.

Campbell

J. K.

(1992). The Greek hero. In Peristiany

J. G.

Pitt-Rivers

(Eds.), Honor and grace in anthropology (pp. 129-149). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

12.

Centre for Egyptian Women’s Legal Assistance. (2005). “Crimes of honour” as violence against women in Egypt. In Welchman

Hossain

(Eds.), “Honour” crimes, paradigms, and violence against women (pp. 137-159). London, England: Zed Books.

13.

Chesler

(2010). Worldwide trends in honor killings. The Middle East Quarterly, 17, 3-11.

14.

Country of Origin Information Service of the UK Border Agency. (2008, February 11-20). Report of fact finding mission Turkey. Retrieved from http://www.refworld.org/docid/489c167e2.html

15.

Cressey

D. R.

(1953). Other people’s money; a study of the social psychology of embezzlement. New York, NY: Free Press.

16.

Cumhuriyet Dergi (2003, June 15). Recm günü yaşananlar [What happened on the day of stoning]. Retrieved at June 4, 2014, from http://www.cumhuriyetarsivi.com/katalog/4509/sayfa/2003/6/15/5.xhtml

17.

Delaney

(1991). The seed and the soil, gender and cosmology in Turkish village society. Berkeley: University of California Press.

18.

Dobash

R. E.

Dobash

(1979). Violence against wives: A Case against the patriarchy. New York, NY: Free Press.

19.

Doğan

(2011). Is honor killing a “Muslim phenomenon”? Textual interpretations and cultural representations. Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, 31, 423-440.

20.

Doğan

(2014). Different cultural understandings of honor that inspire killing: An inquiry into the defendant’s perspective. Homicide Studies. Advance online publication, first published March 12, 2014. doi:10.1177/1088767914526717

21.

Ertürk

(2006). Report of the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences (Addendum: Mission to Turkey, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights [OHCHR], 2007 January 5, [A/HRC/4/34/Add.2]).Retrieved from http://daccess-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/G07/100/90/PDF/G0710090.pdf?OpenElement

22.

Faqir

(2001). Intrafamily femicide in defence of honour: The case of Jordan. Third World Quarterly, 22, 65-82.

23.

Farac

(2006). Töre Kıskacında Kadın [The woman in the trap of mores] (4th ed.). İstanbul, Turkey: Günizi Yayıncılık.

24.

GUE/NGL Confederal Group of the European United Left–Nordic Green Left. (2006). Retrieved at October 23, 2006 from http://www.guengl.eu/showPage.jsp?ID=3265&PR=0&AREA=1342&GRP=0&SITE=0&CH=1&TYPE=1&FILENAME=showPage.jsp&INTERNAL=1&ISSUE=0&POPUP=0

25.

Hadidi

Kulwicki

Jahshan

(2001). A review of 16 cases of honour killings in Jordan in 1995. International Journal of Legal Medicine, 114, 357-359.

26.

Haj-Yahia

M. M.

(2005). Can people’s patriarchal ideology predict their beliefs about wife abuse? The case of Jordanian men. Journal of Community Psychology, 33, 545-567.

27.

Hoyek

Sıdawi

R. R.

Mrad

A. A.

(2005). Murders of women in Lebanon: “crimes of honour” between reality and the law. In Welchman

Hossain

(Eds.), “Honour” crimes, paradigms, and violence against women (pp. 111-136). London, England: Zed Books.

28.

Husseini

(2009). Murder in the name of honour. Oxford, UK: One World Publications.

29.

Hürriyet (2007, July 5). 1.5 aylık hamile Yasemin de ‘töre’ kurbanı [1.5 months pregnant Yasemin another victim of mores.]. Retrieved March 13, 2009, from http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/ucuncusayfa/6837024.asp?gid=205

30.

Icli

T. G.

(1994). Blood feud in Turkey: A sociological analysis. British Journal of Criminology, 34, 69-74.

31.

Jaber

(2007, November 4). “Honour” killings grow as girl, 17, stoned to death. The Sunday Times, p. 25.

32.

Jafri

A. H.

(2008). Honour killing, dilemma, ritual, understanding. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

33.

KA-MER (Women’s Centre). (2004). No more “If onlys” (Project for the development of permanent methods in the struggle against killings committed in the name of “honour” in the Southeast and East Anatolia Regions, 2004 Report). Diyarbakir, Turkey: Berdan Publishing.

34.

Kandiyoti

(1988). Bargaining with patriarchy. Gender & Society, 2, 274-290.

35.

Kevorkian

N. S.

(2003). Reexamining femicide: Breaking the silence and crossing “scientific” borders. Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society, 28, 581-608.

36.

Kevorkian

N. S.

(2005). Researching women’s victimisation in Palestine: A socio-legal analysis. In Welchman

Hossain

(Eds.), “Honour” crimes, paradigms, and violence against women (pp. 160-180). London, England: Zed Books.

37.

Khafagy

(2005, May 17-20). Honour killing in Egypt. Paper presented at Expert Group Meeting “Violence against women: Good practices in combating and eliminating violence against women,” UN Division for the Advancement of Women, Vienna, Austria. Retrieved from http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/egm/vaw-gp-2005/docs/experts/khafagy.honorcrimes.pdf

38.

Khan

A. N.

(2009). Country report—Pakistan. Report prepared for the United Nations Asia and Far East Institute for the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders (UNAFEI). Retrieved from http://www.unafei.or.jp/english/pdf/PDF_rms/no69/10_P131-143.pdf

39.

Kim

J. Y.

Sung

(2000). Conjugal violence in Korean American families: A residue of the cultural tradition. Journal of Family Violence, 15, 331-345.

40.

Kressel

G. M.

(1981). Sororicide/filiacide: Homicide for family honour. Current Anthropology, 22, 141-158.

41.

Kulczycki

Windle

(2011). Honor killings in the Middle East and North Africa: A systematic review of the literature. Violence Against Women, 17, 1442-1464.

42.

Maris

Saharso

(2004). Honour killing: A case for cultural defence? In Soeteman

, (Ed.), Proceedings 20th IVR World Congress 2001. Beiheft ARSP (Archiv für Rechts- und Sozial Philosophie) 3: Global Problems (pp. 105-113). Stuttgart, Germany: Franz Steiner Verlag.

43.

Milliyet (2007, July 5). Yine töre vahşeti! 1.5 aylık hamile kızını tek kurşunla öldürdü [Again the horror of mores! He killed his 1.5 months pregnant daughter with one shot]. Retrieved March 13, 2009, from http://www.milliyet.com.tr/2007/07/05/son/sontur39.asp

44.

Onal

(2008). Honour killing: Stories of men who killed. London, England: Saqi Books.

45.

Prime Ministry Human Rights Presidency. (2007). Honour killings report. Retrieved from http://rojwomen.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/honour_killings_report_by_govt_2007.pdf

46.

Radford

(1992). Introduction. In Radford

Russell

D. E. H.

(Eds.), Femicide: The politics of women killing (pp. 3-12). New York, NY: Twayne.

47.

Radikal (2007, July 6). Boşanmak istedi öldürüldü [She was killed as she wanted to divorce], Retrieved March 13, 2009, from http://www.radikal.com.tr/haber.php?haberno=226116

48.

Raj

Silverman

(2002). Violence against immigrant women: The roles of culture, context, and legal immigrant status on intimate partner violence. Violence Against Women, 8, 367-398.

49.

Safilios-Rothschild

(1969). “Honour” crimes in contemporary Greece. The British Journal of Sociology, 20, 205-218.

50.

Sev’er

Yurdakul

(2001). Culture of honor, culture of change: A feminist analysis of honor killings in rural Turkey. Violence Against Women, 7, 964-998.

51.

Sliman

A. T.

(2005). Culture, national minority and the state: Working against the “crime of family honour” within the Palestinian community in Israel. In Welchman

Hossain

(Eds.), “Honour” crimes, paradigms, and violence against women (pp. 181-198). London, England: Zed Books.

52.

The report of the ad hoc Parliamentary Committee on “crimes in the name of honour, violence against women and children.” (2006). [Töre ve namus cinayetleri ile kadınlara ve çocuklara yönelik şiddetin sebeplerinin arastırılarak alınması gereken önlemlerin belirlenmesi amacıyla kurulan meclis arastırması komisyon raporu]. Retrieved from http://www.kadininstatusu.gov.tr/upload/kadininstatusu.gov.tr/mce/eski_site/Pdf/tbmmkom-bolum1.pdf

53.

United Nations Development Programme & United Nations Population Fund. (2005). The dynamics of honor killings in Turkey prospects for action. New York, NY: Filiz Kardam (Ed.).

54.

Van Eck

(2003). Purified by blood: Honour killings amongst Turks in the Netherlands. Amsterdam, The Netherlands: Amsterdam University Press.

55.

Yersiz yurtsuz [The homeless], [Turkish Television Drama Series], (2007), Avsar

(Producer). (2007, March 29). Istanbul, Turkey: ATV Television.

56.

Yirmibesoglu

(2007). Toprağa düşen sevdalar: fTöre ve namus gerekçesiyle işlenen cinayetler [Loves fallen onto soil: The murders committed in the name of honour and customs]. İstanbul, Turkey: Hürriyet Gazetecilik ve Matbaacılık.

57.

Z Raporu [Z Report], (2005). [Turkish television broadcast]. Onal

Altan

(Producers). (2005, June 22). Istanbul, Turkey: Star Television.