November 30, 2012 Calling Out Honour-Based Violence Today
(Sunday, Nov. 25), is United Nations International Day to
Eliminate Violence against Women. Creating awareness of the
global epidemic of violence against women is crucial. But by
taking an international perspective on the problem, as the UN
has done, we risk falling into the trap of believing that the
fight for female safety takes the same form in all societies and
cultures. There are many different forms of violence against
women. And some manifestations of these crimes are culturally
rooted. In particular, many girls and women among us suffer in
silence because we are afraid to name and address the problem of
honour-based violence (HBV). During a recent workshop on HBV
here in Canada, I shared a university student’s story. “N” was
abused for months by her family for refusing to marry a man in
the old country. Her mother threw a large pot of boiling hot tea
on N, resulting in third-degree burns on her daughter’s back.
After a reporter mentioned the wo