There are three pieces of required readings assigned for Week 9, and the main topic is regarding gender killing and honor of crimes, but I will only focus on two articles written by Kecia Ali and Anna C. Korteweg on this critical review. Authors Kecia Ali (2003) and Anna C. Korteweg (2012) adopt somewhat distinctive views towards the issue of honor crime and gender killing. Despite different opinions hold by the two authors, they do have some similar ideas in common, which is both of them consistently think that honor killing is universally unacceptable across culture. On this critical review, I will first summarize the different views of Kecia Ali and Anna C. Korteweg towards gender killing and honor of crimes and give my critical thoughts based on the arguments and empirical evidences provided by the two authors followed by an in-depth discussion regarding the problem of honor crime in the Arab World.
To begin with, Ali views honor killings of women as a crisis happening around the world and the perpetrators are usually the women’s father and brothers. (Ali 2003) Meanwhile, Korteweg views honor crime as an aggressive behavior against a woman who has violated the family honor because she has involved in unacceptable sexual practices with another man. (Korteweg 2012: 136). According to the views of Ali and Korteweg, both of them agree that killing women is becoming a serious problem in the Arab world and the reason why their father and brothers kill their daughter or sister is mainly because they want to restore the family honor. Based on my understanding from the two readings, if the woman violates the family honor, their father and brothers will feel extremely shameful about the behaviors performed by the woman. Losing family honor is more easier than gaining it. They are bound by traditions and social norms that they must kill their daughter or sister to restore the family honor.
Let me elaborate the different views of two authors in details. First of all, Ali thinks that women will get killed by his father or brothers even if she speaks to someone she doesn’t know. In other words, engaging in a casual conversation with another stranger man will raise the suspiciousness of the father or brother on the woman and it will pose a threat to the woman on her life. In a worst-case scenario, if the woman’s father or brothers have sufficient evidence believing that their daughter or sister has lost her virginity before getting married or involved in extra-marital affairs after marriage, then they will kill the woman on their own. In my opinion, this is a very violent and inhumane practice, and I think it is not deemed as a universal behavior in many countries especially in the modern civilized world. Even though those people including women in other countries commit more severe criminal offenses, they will not be killed in the first place.
According to Ali, if women get raped, they will be required to remove the stain from the family honor. The women’s father or brothers will kill them directly to restore the family honor. One thing here surprises me is that even if another man rapes a woman, the raped women will still be killed. Isn’t the raped women considered a victim? I think it does not make sense at all. It is because usually when a woman is being raped, it will be treated as a tragic incident in many countries. Many people’s initial reaction will be to show their empathy to the women who come across such mishap circumstance and the perpetrator who is the man who rapes the women will be charged and even sent to prison. Similar case has totally different consequences in the Arab world as the perpetrator will not be sanctioned. Instead, no further action will be taken against the perpetrator which is absolutely unfair to the victim (the woman who are being raped). From this example, we can see that Arab women are the actual victims of honor crimes and it also reveals that the social status of women in Arab are very low and they have little say even though they come across unfortunate situations like being raped. People will not believe in what the woman says.
My second point has to do with Korteweg’s opinion on honor crime. According to the Korteweg reading, Korteweg views honor crime as “gendered violence that cuts across societies and then to situate it in contemporary immigration contexts.” (Korteweg 2012: 144). From the reading, Korteweg thinks that honor crime can be analyzed from political, cultural and social perspectives. Let us start from a political standpoint. Korteweg believes that the media plays a significant role in upholding the societal norms from a political viewpoint. When the honor of crime happens, the media often deliver a message to the public that the woman’s father and brothers should punish their daughter or sister to restore their family honor. According to Korteweg, this often happens within the minority immigrant community. Similarly, the focus on honor violence which occurs in the immigrant communities is quite narrow, and it can range from domestic to family. (Korteweg 2012:140). Personally speaking, I think the media tend to selectively report the incident of the minority immigrant community which can be misleading to the public. From the above example, we can see that the media may not hold an objective view and transparently report the case when it comes to crimes of honor. Besides, this example also reveals that the societal norms of preserving family honor are quite rigid in the Arab world and people adhere to the rules strictly.
Moving on to the cultural and social perspective, Korteweg’s ideas of honor crime means that it is a form of violence that emerges in the intersections of race and gender, ethnicity as well as religion. (Korteweg 2012: 144). Korteweg shows us a good example of the cultural factor from the reading that religion plays a particular role in the discussion of violent behaviors related to the honor crimes. To many people including me, we may think that honor crimes must be associated with religion because God does not accept people to get involved in illicit sexual practices and even kill others. God teaches us that committing adultery and murdering are considered evil practices and we should not do these. But surprisingly, Korteweg gives us a different idea that there is no direct relationship between religion and honor crime. (Korteweg 2012: 144). From the article, Korteweg also shows us another example of Islam indicating that religion and honor crimes are not necessarily related. Honor killing is often associated with Islam in public discourse, but we are unable to justify these violent practices in the Quran. (Korteweg 2012:144).
My final point has to do with the empirical findings of both readings. I think both authors substantiate their arguments by providing ample of empirical examples regarding the punishment of committing an honor crime by the woman in which I think are quite convincing to readers. However, I think their arguments would be clearer if the two authors could carry out primary research on their own to obtain first-hand information instead of summarizing the findings carried out by other scholars that are already existed. The research findings of the two authors are considered secondary sources and I think an in-depth study on the problem of honor crime can be conducted by thinking of what practical measures can be established to protect Arab women from getting killed when there is no concrete evidence charging them for involving in illicit and immoral sexual practices. We should also think about the moral reasons behind restoring family honor because I think killing the woman is universally unacceptable. Further investigation needs to be done and I believe it will provide the readers a clear picture of how cultural, social and political factors are contributing the problem of honor crime in the Arab world.