The Politics and Culture of "Honour Killing": The Murder of Fadime §ahindal

Authors

  • Shahrzad Mojab Associate Professor, Department of Adult Education, Community Development and Councelling Psychology OISE/University of Toronto, Ontario
  • Amir Hassanpour Assistant Professor, Department of Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations, University of Toronto.

Keywords:

Domestic violence, Family violence, Honour killing

Abstract

Rahmi Sahindal, a Kurdish man who migrated from Turkey to Sweden in 1980, killed his daughter Fadime in the city of Uppsala on 21 January 2002. Rahmi and his son, Mesud, felt that Fadime had shamed the family by rejecting an arranged marriage, and by feeling free to love a partner of her choice, a Swedish man. She had, according to tradition, violated the codes of honour "namus." She had further "shamed" her father and brother by resisting their death threats, going public about their intentions, taking them to court, and by launching a campaign against honour killing. Rahmi told the police that he had to defend his (family's) honour by killing his daughter.

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Published

2003-01-01