Although honor killings continue worldwide, many court systems are taking steps to combat them with harsher punishments for perpetrators, investigative journalist and human rights activist Rana Husseini said.
Husseini discussed her recent book, ‘Murder in the Name of Honor,’ which chronicles international cases of honor killings, to about 40 students and faculty members Tuesday at the Boston University Castle. She has received several awards for her work and for campaigning in her native Jordan against honor crimes.
Honor killings or honor crimes occur when a woman is killed by relatives because they believe ‘she has tarnished their family image,’ Husseini said. The killers almost always receive lenient sentences despite their crimes, she said.
‘I discovered the horrific case of a 16-year-old girl who was murdered because she was raped by her brother,’ she said. ‘I felt that someone needed to report about it.”
The article in The Jordan Times was one of the first in Jordan to openly address the issue of honor killings, she said.
‘The following day, we received a call from a Jordanian woman screaming and crying at our editors about the story,’ she said. ‘The topic was taboo and rarely reported in newspapers.” ‘
Later Husseini said she was accused of being a Western agent after becoming more involved and recruiting people to do door-to-door campaign informing Jordanians.’
‘I didn’t listen to them,’ Husseini said. ‘I believed what my heart told me and followed my instinct.’
But efforts to stop honors killings have paid off, she said. One of five Jordanian court tribunals has committed to honors crime cases. In the past, she said, the maximum sentence expected for an honor crime was seven months but judges have begun to increase that to as much as 50 years.
Female representation in Jordanian government has also increased, with 40 to 50 female judges, seven senators and three ambassadors.’ ‘
But Husseini said the crimes are global.
‘These murders are not limited to any country, religion, class, or race,’ she said.’ ‘Unfortunately, people tend to misinterpret them as crimes of Islam. In this part of the world, if any crime is committed by a Muslim, he is instantly labeled by his religion.’
The Institute for the Study of Muslim Societies and Civilizations, which hosted the discussion, holds yearly series of lectures, each focusing on one particular aspect of Islam.’
‘Women’s issues in the Muslim world clearly deserve more debate,’ Institute administrator Michael Carroll said. ‘It may be a little controversial, but it definitely deserves to be looked at.’
College of Arts and Sciences sophomore Pratik Desai said he came to understand if there was a connection between Islam and honor killings.’
‘I appreciated the stress she put on that it’s a global phenomenon,’ he said. ‘It’s important that people are aware of that.’
CAS senior Rebecca Madden said Husseini is a strong person and does important work, but thought she could have focused more on Islam.
‘ ‘I thought it was a little disingenuous that she didn’t talk about the Islam aspect and Shariah laws,’ Madden said.’
School of Management sophomore Mohamed Tomalieh, who is from Jordan, said he attended because he is familiar with Husseini’s work.
‘It’s quite a big issue at home,’ he said. ‘It’s interesting to interact with someone in this field and see how the activists accomplished their goals.’
Husseini said she would never give up her work.
‘ ‘You should always fight for what you believe in,’ she said. ‘Don’t think your work is in vain.’ I’m trying to save lives. That’s the ultimate goal.’