Ett århundrade av kamp för frihet och jämlikhet
Den 7 mars i Göteborg 2008 hade organisationen ”Organization for Womens Liberation”, OWL, anordnat ett 100-årsfirande av internationella kvinnodagen. Maria Hagberg, KFF Skåne, höll då, som en av grundarna till ”Nätverket mot hedersrelaterat våld”, ett tal. Då firandet sändes, över Internet till hela världen, var Marias tal på engelska.
Maria Hagberg, KFF Skåne,
förbereder sitt anförande om hedersvåld, den
7 mars 2008, på en konferens för 100-årsfirandet av
Internationella
kvinnodagen, som OWL anordnat i Göteborg. Bredvid Maria talar
människorättsaktivisten och medlemmen i ”La Ligue du Droit
International des Femmes”, juristen Linda Weil-Curiel, med en av
besökarna på mötet.
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Honour related violence
This violence is not “a so called violence” neither as any men´s violence against women. This violence takes place all over the world and has specific signs. The ground to this patriarchal violence is in religious fundamentalism and conservative traditions in a mix which main purposes are to control the woman´s sexuality. The “honour” is between the woman´s legs.
Honour related violence is homophobic, racistic and most of all, very hostile to women. By ignoring this kind of violence we support the patriarchal power.The violence is collective, both men and women are involved, sometimes the whole society support it by it´s laws and it separates definit from partner violence that includes one perpertrator.
The perpertrators are seen as heroes by their surrounding environment when they reestablish the ”honour” a clear and distinct difference to partner violence where the perpertrator is not seen as a hero but as a perpetrator.
The fact is that religious fundamentalism unaware sides in the Iraqien conflict sell out women´s rights without a twinkle. A major example recently is when the pass laws in Iraq whas changed to be as hard as them in Iran. Women can not apply for a passport without permission from a male relative. She is seen as an unadult person.
Honour related violence is a significant international name of this kind of violence and it is also separeted in many countries legislation and seen as lightening circumstances.
To return to the main reason of this violence it lives to control the sexuality of the women. This is to ignore the woman´s human righs and to make here invicible as a human being and to minimalize her to only be a sexual, childproducing, object. This control is planted at early ages, specifically to girls, by religious and traditional indoctrination, but also by hard physical and phycological abuse, to suborder in the system!
The children, the girls specifically, have many limits in their life space. They are denied participating spare time activities and are forced to slavery work in their homes, they are denied to be friendly with other children in the surrounding society that does not chare the collective values. They are denied participation in school activities that includes both boys and girls as sports, swimmings and camps. Breaking the limits is punished by hard violence such as physical and/or psycological abuse. These rule system in their homes are supported by religious schools that are invading the Swedish school system nowadays.
This violence gives concequences towards especially girls from Sweden, as well as girls in other countries where honour related violence take place.
The woman is not allowed to take part of information about pregnency prevents nd is not allowed to take abortion. She is forbiden premarriagal relationships as well as out of marriage relationships. The woman is forbidden to have an education or work and an own income. She is forbidden to move out of home before marriage in the country or “dumped” abroad to a forced marriage. She is forced to stand rapes during the wedding night and after that.
The myth about the hymen exists and is maintained by the collective. “You should bleed in the wedding night”. Examination of the “hymen” and surgery of the “hymen” exists in Sweden as well as in other countries.
Money transactions are often involved in the marriage arrangements.
Young girls are in majority as victims in honour crimes but also boys, adult women /for exampel when they want to divorce/ and LGT persons (the control of the womans sexuality are “completely lost” in theses cases and they are seen as threats against the hetero normativity and breaking the control of the collective inheridit as well as as the homosexuality is forbidden in the legislation in many countries) are.
It is extremely hard to work against honour related violence which is very complex and, it can be all from murder to life space limits. Still today there are many lacks in the legislation and the knowledge in the authorities, both how to handle this violence as well as a lack of treatment alternatives for the families who want to be free from these destructive patterns.
We have had and have still a long way to go in women´s emancipation to be seen as our own adult persons in the same age as men /or ever, to have our right to education, to have our right to work out of home and with our own income, to have an individual tax payment, to have right to prevent pregnancy, to have right to abortion, to have right to chose our own life, to have right to our sexuality and to have right to our own lives. Today, when they are denied basic human rights this is a reality for many people/most women in Sweden, as well as in other countries.
We are some persons who have started a network against honour related violence. Despite that this violence, aimed mainly toward women, is of a special nature it is played down.
The myth which is spread is that this is not a separate type of violence, even though it is directed against children, women, men, homosexuality, bisexuality and trans-sexuality, and is grounded in religious fundamentalism and conservative traditions. The violence and threat is sanctioned collectively, in the extreme by the whole community and the perpetrators are regarded as heroes.
This comparison that this is as all other violence against women or to claim that it is racism is unjust. Honour related violence is an international issue and not, as maintain, as Swedish issue. It exists throughout the world. Recently, those of us who work against this have experienced that people want to put a lid on this invisible phenomenon.
The problem is that it is inbuilt in the community's foundation which is grounded in religious and moralist values and even in our own laws and social structure. While this violence goes on it is a strong threat against equal opportunity in work, both in Sweden and other countries. Violence is hostile to women and is racist and homophobic. That is why it is important to work against this violence.
It is difficult work, we need to be many in the network and well distributed over the country to be successful. We also need to work on an international level. That is why we have started a politically independent network with committed people like politicians, researchers, organisations and individuals.
The idea is that we together, can work as lobbyists so that honour related violence is taken seriously and that the community does its utmost to combat this.
To make this possible we need a seculare state, now the development goes in the opposite direction.