The Definition of "Honor"

I am COMPLETELY pissed off.

Being a kid in this world is pretty tough. Being a teen is even tougher. I cannot imagine what it is like to live in a developing country, or be raised in a family with strict social mores.

But I CAN imagine it is a pretty f*#ked up life you are living when you a young girl, living in Turkey and your father and grandfather start kicking the snot out of you because you dared to speak to boys.

Oh wait - it gets better...

According to media reports, the girl was taken to the back yard of the family's compound and she was thrown into a pit where she was buried a live. To make sure she didn't escape, the family's chicken coop was placed over the grave.

An autopsy report has concluded she was very much alive when she was placed in the ground.

This type of punishment (almost 100% of the time exacted on the females of the culture - makes ya think, don't it?) has been named an "Honor Killing". The reason behind it is that the family has been shamed by the individual and the only way to maintain their dignity or standing is to remove the problem. Apparently this family reported the girl missing to police.

(Gee, Gramps, if we snoop around a little I think we'll find her, oh ya, CHECK UNDER THE CHICKEN COOP YOU SICK BASTARD!)

Growing up I was a girl who chatted with boys a lot. Not in the flirtatious, self indulgent way, but very much as I am now - very comfortable talking to anyone - male or female. Thankfully The Big Guy isn't the jealous type, but then I wouldn't be with him if he was.

I cannot image being forbidden from speaking to boys when I was 16 years old. I cannot imagine knowing I could be punished for doing so. And I cannot imagine how many other young women have been murdered (ya, that's what we are really talking about here) throughout the course of time under the veil of "Honor".

She wasn't bringing boys into the home and sleeping with them. She wasn't doing drugs at the kitchen table. She wasn't stealing or involved in gang related activities. She wasn't bullying friends or a menace to her neighborhood....she was being NORMAL.

What is normal in Turkey is that 200 deaths HALF of the annual total are categorized as "Honor" killings. 200 women and children who have somehow tarnished the family's image to such a degree that the ONLY recourse is to murder then.

I CHALLENGE YOU - if you have a daughter, if you are a daughter if you are a child of a daughter, make your voice heard and DEMAND change. Regardless of religious, social or stereotypical views, these hideous acts must be stopped. I'm looking into Amnesty International to find out what I can do. http://www.amnesty.ca/

Show this to your daughters www.huffingtonpost.com and go to the story about the Turkish Honor Killing. The next time they want to lip you about how miserable their life is - let them see just what misery is. Tell your sons that there are men out there whose desperate need to control their microscopic world is to murder their own flesh and blood for doing nothing more than your son does EVERY DAY.

What kind of backasswards kind of society would accept a child killer over a young person who was developing NORMAL social relationships? As far as the disgrace on the family - one would think murder trumps all.

I would love to hear your thoughts - since I'm the only one who gets to blow off steam here....