"When men are oppressed it's a tragedy. When women are oppressed it's "tradition." - Letty Pogrebin, American author, journalist
March is Women's History Month which allows many forums to focus on issues unique to women around the world. 2016 Oscar winning documentary, A Girl In the River: The Price of Forgiveness http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5144072/ directed by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy is just one recent film that has brought the horror of honor killings out from the shadows. A Girl In the River is the story of Saba, a young Pakistani woman who survives the savagery of being shot in the face and nearly drowned by her father and uncle for falling in love with a man whom they disapprove. Through the eyes of a miraculous survivor, Saba relates the entire heinous ordeal. Many honor killings go unreported or are simply accepted as cultural norm. The inhumane "tradition" of honor killing has no basis in modern religious thought and is a complete violation of human rights. The countries who continue condoning this practice are guilty of attempted murder or murder and must be held accountable. Honor killings won't end until all countries, national leaders,communities, schools, families, religious groups, individual men and women stand against laws that brutalize and dehumanize women.
It's nearly unthinkable to imagine a young girl or woman we know personally such as a daughter, sister or wife viciously attacked, maimed, gang raped, betrayed by her family and community, called "unclean", stoned to death to restore a family's "honor". The barbaric victimization of young girls and women must end. The violence must end. The silence must end. First hand accounts, stories and films must continue to be told and retold. Without education and awareness thousands of girls and women will continue to suffer or die. With their deaths there is no honor for any of us.
