Honour Killings continue in the UK

[Hopeless Romantic]

Honour killings are a documented aspect of South Asian society and in the UK despite many positive efforts by police and communities to tackle the problem, the act of killing women in particular, for the sake of honour, is still in practice.

For the British society at large, the idea of killing or assaulting a daughter because you do not approve of her boyfriend is horrifying. However, this type of assault is prevalent in the UK, especially in South Asian communities. It’s reported that honour killings account for twelve murders each year.

Typically the victims are young women and it is a very difficult crime to deal with, as they are usually too frightened to go the police. The subject has come to the fore recently, as Afshan Azad, an actress in the Harry Potter films, was physically assaulted by her brother for having a relationship with a Hindu man.

22 year old Azad has found fame at an early age in her roles in the Harry Potter films. She plays one of the boy wizards classmates, Padma Patil. Her family have recently been through court after her brother assaulted her and her father threatened to kill her. She escaped the family home by climbing through a window and went to the police for help, but later withdrew the accusations against her father.

The court in Manchester was told that she was called a ‘slag’, assaulted and called a ‘prostitute’ after meeting the Hindu man, a relationship which angered her father, 53 year old Abul Azad and 28 year old brother, Ashraf.

more

http://www.desiblitz.com/content/honour-killings-continue-in-the-uk

[non sociopath skin]

1. So what would you do about it, HR, other than punish offenders ...

... with the full rigour of the law, as currently happens?

This story is, predictably, a hit with the right-wing media who see it as yet further proof of the trouble The White Man is stirring up for himself by letting his swarthy, uncivilized Burden intrude upon his Own Domain.

I would hope that our view would be a little more sanguine and proportionate.... ?

The Skin

[Hopeless Romantic]

2. Intensive education of the communities in which this takes place...

The biggest hurdle to clear in dealing with this is the toleration of it within the families and communities involved. Even the victims are usually reluctant to go to the authorities because of cultural pressure and that must end.

I'd also like these crimes to be treated as hate crimes (which is not currently the case as I understand it), and thus attract stiffer penalties when convictions are achieved.

And I really don't see how your comments about "the right wing press" and "The White Man" have any relevance to this topic.

[LeftishBrit]

3. To be fair...

this article seems to be from a predominantly British Asian site, not right-wing British media.

Honour killings are a problem worldwide, and should be tackled as a human rights issue.

www.stophonourkillings.com


I strongly oppose the demonization of All Immigrants being Violent, or using anything as fodder for Sending All Those Immigrants Back Where They Came From. But I think that we need to tackle domestic violence and abuse in any and all communities - including umpteenth-generation British.

[non sociopath skin]

4. I agree, totally.

Strong, systematic action against the perpetrators is far more useful than "Oo, look, another one!" headlines.

The Skin

[Dutch]

5. So it's not enough for you that the rape and abuse of women be hushed up for political reasons...

Now you're advocating it for the murder of women, too. And implying that those who call attention to it are effectively agents of the BNP, to boot! Nice- but unfortunately, there's nothing "sanguine" or "proportionate" about treating women as disposable, and the kind of indifference you and too many post-leftists are spouting on matters like these are, in a very real way, perpetuating an atmosphere in which crimes like this are allowed to continue.

Perhaps next time a crime of this kind occurs, you might try turning your thoughts towards sympathy for the victim and consideration of how similar offences can be prevented in future- rather than simply fretting over how the "right-wing media" might spin it to your political disadvantage, and use it to whip up the grunting masses of the white working class of whom you are obviously so terrified.

[non sociopath skin]

6. That's a lot of accusations and assumptions in one economical posting, Dutch.

I won't waste my time humouring your aggression and arrogance, but will trust my reputation to those who've been posting here as long as I have.

I would be interested in knowing what a "post-leftist" is, though.

The Skin

[LeftishBrit]

7. That is a bizarre post

non sociopath skin is not in favour of 'hushing up honour killings for political reasons'; but criticizing the *media exploitation of honour killings - and many other things - for political reasons*.

See his reply to my post.

As a parallel, if someone objects to parts of the media whipping up the AIDS crisis to spread hysteria about gays, does that mean that they want to hush up the existence of AIDS, or oppose safe sex? If they don't think the MMR causes autism, does that mean they don't care about autism? (I've had big arguments on another DU forum about the latter from time to time!)

And where do you get from that that the Skin is 'terrified of the white working class'? Are the BNP, EDL and (millionaire/billionaire-owned) gutter press representative of the 'white working class'?

[non sociopath skin]

8. Thanks for that, LB.

Although my dad could be a bit scary at times, I never had any particular problem with my class as a whole.

Still waiting to hear what a "post-leftist" is.

The Skin

[muriel_volestrangler]

9. It's someone who posts and leaves

Cmon now, that was easy ...

[non sociopath skin]

10. Though "Dutch" has 1,000 posts up. Not our Usual Suspect, I suspect.

The Skin