Honour killing’s Aussie link
Sian Powell; 26/4/08
Mortally wounded and bleeding profusely, Pela Atroshi covered her head with her hands, pleading “please don’t shoot me, please don’t shoot me”. As her sister and her mother screamed, her uncle Rezkar Atroshi raised his gun and killed her. The family’s honour had been cleansed. Rezkar had already shot Pela twice in the back in the upstairs room. Helped downstairs by her mother and her younger sister, the 19-year-old Kurdish Swede was confronted by four resolute men - her father and his three brothers. The men pulled the women apart. Her youngest uncle then finished the job, shooting Pela in the head. The bullet went through one of her fingers and into her brain. The decision to kill her was made by a council of male relatives, led by Pela’s grandfather, Abdulmajid Atroshi - a Kurd who lived in Australia.
See: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23600452-2702,00.html
Tags: Australia, Domestic Violence, Marriage
April 28th, 2008 at 9:02 am
Here are a couple ideas:
1. Why don’t we start economically boycotting countries that continue to treat their women like this and the companies that do business with them? We could do for women what the boycott of South Africa did for blacks when they were living under apartheid.
2. Why don’t we write to our representatives and leaders and demand that they withhold some meaningful portion of our aid to these countries unless and until they materially, measurably, sustainably improve their human rights track records?
Ellen R. Sheeley, Author
“Reclaiming Honor in Jordan”