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Honor Killings
Would you kill for the sake of preserving your honor? Some parents would go as far as killing their very own children in order to keep their family name pristine. Approximately five thousand women are murdered in honor killings every year according to the United Nations. However, according the women advocacy groups about twenty thousand women are killed annually. Honor killings are murders committed by those in a person’s family toward those who are believed to be bringing upon dishonor to the family. Honor killings can be dated back to the time of the Ancient Roman Empire where the patriarch of a family owned the right of life and death for any member of his household. Women pregnant out of wedlock were often killed to prevent the ruination of her family’s reputation. Usually once a family’s reputation is tarnished it can never be undone so the killing of the person associated with it is necessary to protect others in the family. Honor killings continue to be a major issue in many cultures as teens are starting to follow the new customs of the twenty-first century.
Honor killings began long ago before anyone would think. During the time of the Roman Empire, the patriarch, had the right to end the life of anyone in his household. Women accused of dishonorable acts such as adultery and premarital intercourse were
Ullah, 2 often killed to keep the family reputation untarnished. Killing a person suspected of bringing dishonor upon the family was considered a heroic act to some, long ago. Dishonor associated with a family was not to be taken lightly then and even now. In the United States several acts of honor killings have been committed in order keep a family away from dishonor. In 1989 a young teenage...
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... killings and domestic violence. As stated by Phyllis Chesler, “One group has an average age of seventeen; the other group’s average age is thirty-six (Chesler, “Worldwide Trends in Honor Killings”). The age differences among the two groups is a rather important one that greatly impacts statistics. In the older age group, the associated crimes usually include child abuse, incest, and marital stalking. These crimes are not associated with a culture nor are the young women targeted and the murders aren’t usually justified by the families. According to Chesler, ...these characteristics define the classic honor killing of younger women and girls”
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(Chesler, “Worldwide Trends in Honor Killings”). In the younger age group, females are “...killed by their families of origin eighty-one percent of the time” (Chesler, “Worldwide Trends in Honor Killings”).
“Honor is the value of a person in his or her own eyes. Honor is a claim to worth along with social acknowledgement of worth.” (Malina 31) This phrase tells us that honor was extremely important to the ancient people. Honor is a value that was present during many occasions in the play. This value can be seen in Oedipus. He promised the citizens of Thebes that he would find the murderer of Laius and free the lands from the plague. The murderer was to be exiled from Thebes. Oedipus later found out that he himself was the murderer. Even though he was king, he honored the punishment and exiled himself from Thebes. The New Testament states that honor in women meant positive shame. Positive shame is the sensitivity of one 's own reputation. A shameless person is considered a dishonorable woman. Women have to be ashamed and remain shy to avoid human contacts that might expose her to dishonor. (Malina 50) This value can be seen in Jocasta. She feels ashamed when she finds out that her husband Oedipus turned out to be her son. In order to remain honorable, her shame led her to commit
Even though murder is not legal, others can respect a justified murder. When Marcelo was a teenager “…Valdez accused [his] father of stealing cattle, [so he] gathered his sons… [and gave] them each a gun…[with] the first one to see…Valdez was to shoot him” (57). When Marcelo’s brother shot Valdez nobody really took a second thought about it, with the exception of the law. The town all knew that Valdez was not giving Marcelo’s father the respect he deserved and he had something to do something about it. The whole incident could have been avoided if Valdez would have just had a talk with Marcelo’s father rather than automatically accusing him of
Honor can be defined by how one holds them in the public eye. Others may say that honor is how you live your life when none can see your actions. However defined honor can play major roles in how a person will act in a given situation. The Crucible by Arthur Miller has excellent examples of how honor can manipulate people’s decisions in times of importance. John proctor holds his moral standpoint and does not falter into the temptations of selfishness, while Elizabeth would describe honor as how a person lives their lives. Some can even describe honor as what is most important in life; family. Giles believed that his life was the ultimate object he could sacrifice to maintain his family’s happiness. However honor can be defined, one thing is certain; Everyone has some degree of honor in their lives.
Honor, just as today, is the way your name is viewed by others in the public. Threats toward ones honor might be defended differently in the public view. Honor varied between genders. Males felt it necessary to defend their honor when another slighted their masculinity, family, or physical ability. Females felt honor too. They often saw it important to defend their honor like did the males. Usually it was defended by gossip or name-calling but on occasion did result in physical violence as well. Females saw honor in a moral sense. Ones sexual activity or lack thereof before marriage, fidelity in marriage and celibacy after marriage all proved a woman to be honorable. Just like today, a personal reputation would be on the line if called a demoralizing name.
In the movie Dead Man Walking, Earl Delacroix, the father of a murder victim, is seen at the funeral of the murderer, Matthew Poncelet, after his execution. While there, he says that he hasn’t found the peace he thought he would have after Matthew was executed and that his heart was still filled with hatred (Dead Man Walking.) This is the case for many families, capital punishment may give the impression that the murder victim’s family gains closure from the execution of the murderer, but that is rarely the case; even years after the execution has taken place, some family members of the victim suffer from unresolved grief and the murderer’s family is also affected in a negative manner. Capital Punishment is often viewed as the “right” option to put the families out of their pain and suffering, but in many cases, it’s just not effective in providing closure for the families and might make things worse; therefore, it should not be a valid reason for execution.
Violent behavior by men against their family members were traditionally considered private matters. We recognize public violence as being morally wrong or socially destructive. Domestic violence and child abuse are two forms of private violence that were more or less immune from public scrutiny and considered inappropriate for "outsiders" to intervene in unless the problem reached extreme proportions.
Infanticide is a way to alter the reproductive stream before the child has the status of a real person, which is culturally defined (source). The deaths of weak, illegitimate, excess, deformed and unwanted infants are not defined as murder when the infants have not yet been born into the social world. Infanticide occurs cross-culturally for a multitude of causes. The reasons for infanticide can be summed up into three categories: biological (including the health of the child and twin stigmas), economical (relation to other children, women's workload, and available resources) and cultural (preferred gender, illegitimate children). This essay will examine cross-culturally the biological, economic and cultural factors for infanticide.
“I personally have always voted for the death penalty because I believe that people who go out prepared to take the lives of other people forfeit their own right to live. I believe that the death penalty should be used only very rarely, but I believe that no-one should go out certain that no matter how cruel, how vicious, how hideous their murder, they themselves will not suffer the death penalty.”
In some cases this is considered to socially acceptable, while in other cases, people look at it as murder
Is murder ever truly justified? Many people might proclaim the adage, "Two wrongs don't make a right,” while others would argue that the Old Testament Bible states, "An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth" (Deuteronomy 19:21). Andre Dubus explores this moral dilemma in his short story, Killings. The protagonist, Matt Fowler, a good father and husband, decides to take revenge for his son's murder. Richard Strout is a bad man who murders his soon-to-be ex-wife's lover. These facts are complicated by the complexity of interpersonal relationships when seen through the lens of Matt’s conviction, Strout’s humanity, and ultimately Matt’s personal sacrifice on behalf of his loved ones. Though on the surface this tale might lead someone to think that Dubus is advocating for revenge, a closer look reveals that this a cautionary tale about the true cost of killing another human as readers are shown how completely Matt is altered by taking a life.
Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) is historically referred to as domestic violence. It describes a pattern of coercive and assaultive behavior that may include psychological abuse, progressive isolation, sexual assault, physical injury, stalking, intimidation, deprivation, and reproductive coercion among partners (The Family Violence Prevention Fund (FVPF), 1999). IPV leads to lifelong consequences such as lasting physical impairment, emotional trauma, chronic health problems, and even death. It is an issue effecting individuals in every community, regardless of age, economic status, race, religion, nationality or educational background. Eighty-five percent of domestic violence victims are women (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2003). More than one in three women in the United States have experienced rape, physical violence, or stalking by an intimate partner in their lifetime (The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, 2012). Thirty to sixty percent of perpetrators tend to also abuse children in the household (Edelson, 1999). Witnessing violence between parents or caretakers is considered the strongest risk factor of transmitting violent behavior from one generation to the next (Break the Cycle, 2006).
During the 1980s and 1900s, domestic violence was one of the most unreported crimes that involve females and males getting hurt and dying. Kicking, choking, killing, and saying brutal or despise words that could hurt the victims physically or emotionally are considered domestic violence. In fact, many victims are afraid to seek for help. According to “The Domestic Violence Resource Center (DVRC), women account for approximately 85 percent of all intimate partner violence, with women aged 20-24 at greater risk” (Batten, par.16). Most pregnant women are at risk as well. “But underlying approach is still one that assumes the perpetrators are men and the victims are woman” (Haugen, par. 1). Moreover, both males and females believe that domestic violence is a solution to their issues.
Weiler, Jeanne. “Girls and Violence.” Electronic ERIC Clearinghouse on Urban Education (1994). June 1999 < http://ericweb.tc.columbia.edu/digest/dig143.asp>.
According to the UNICEF report in just 2006, studies disclosed that 10 million young girls were killed either before they were born or promptly after by their parents in the year of 1986 (which is not that long ago if you put that number into perspective). But why would anyone want to deliberately kill an innocent soul, let alone their own child? Female Infanticide and Gendercide is defined as the conscious killing of female, newborn babies which can happen from getting killed by their own blood or by an abortion. Even though acts as these are illegal, we still see this is a persistent problem today mainly in the cultures of China and India.
On January 14, 2014 Aljazeera America reported another case of female infanticide in Karachi (Haryana Colony), “Just 2 days after a mother gave birth her husband killed the child, their first, because she was a girl.”