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Turkish Women Told: 'You have dishonoured your family, please kill yourself'

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steven johnson Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Mar-26-09 08:30 PM
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Turkish Women Told: 'You have dishonoured your family, please kill yourself'
In Turkey a girl can be killed by their families in the name of honor simply receiving a text message from a boy.

Geez, these guys are psycho.



So-called "honour killings" in Turkey have reached record levels. According to government figures, there are more than 200 a year – half of all the murders committed in the country. Now, in a sinister twist, comes the emergence of "honour suicides". The growing phenomenon has been linked to reforms to Turkey's penal code in 2005. That introduced mandatory life sentences for honour killers, whereas in the past, killers could receive a reduced sentence claiming provocation. Soon after the law was passed, the numbers of female suicides started to rocket.

Wearing tight clothes or talking to a man who is not a relative is sometimes all it takes to blacken the family name. Mr Peker said women who are told to kill themselves are usually given one of three options – a noose, a gun or rat poison. They are then locked in a room until the job is done.

A woman's fate is usually decided during a "family council", when the extended family meets to discuss breaches of honour. In these meetings, it is agreed how the victim must be killed. If it is not to be a forced suicide, a killer is chosen. The youngest member of the family is often ordered to kill, in the belief they will be treated more leniently if caught.

Most honour killings happen in the Kurdish region, a barren land ravaged by years of war and oppression. Rural communities here are ruled under a strict feudal, patriarchal system. But as Kurds have fled the fighting between separatist rebels and Turkey's government, the crime is spreading across the country into its cities and towns. According to a recent government report, there is now one honour killing a week in Istanbul.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/women-told-you-have-dishonoured-your-family-please-kill-yourself-1655373.html


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aquart Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Mar-26-09 08:37 PM
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1. Patriarchal systems suck.
Any man who is responsible for harming a woman or child should not remain on this planet because he has violated his purpose. His purpose. Screw his fucking honor.
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Richard Steele Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Mar-26-09 08:55 PM
Response to Reply #1
3. Very well said. nm
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GreenPartyVoter Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Mar-26-09 08:38 PM
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2. Horrific. Utterly horrific.
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