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Politics : Canadian Political Free-for-All -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: DeplorableIrredeemableRedneck who wrote (11916)	6/12/2007 10:54:57 AM
From: DeplorableIrredeemableRedneck	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 37569

Cultural 'honour' killing brought to Canada Jamie Baker, St. John's Telegram Published: Monday, June 11, 2007 ST. JOHN'S, N.L. -- A 14-year-old female rape victim is strangled to death in March 2004 by her father and brother because she has supposedly tarnished the family name. In April 2004, a man brutally kills his wife and daughter after finding out that his brother had previously molested them. A teenage girl with a Turkish background has her throat cut by her father after he learns she has a Christian boyfriend. All three cases -- taken from a study by Memorial University psychiatry professor Dr. Amin Muhammad and resident Sujay Patel -- involve unspeakable acts against females. And all were considered appropriate by the killers based on long-standing tradition and cultural beliefs. The problem is, Muhammad said, people from countries where such beliefs exist are making their way to Canada and the United States. "We discovered through our different discussions with lawyers in Canada that it happens here, more microscopically, also," he said. "When people come and settle in Canada they can bring their traditions and forcefully follow them." The practice has a couple of names: transcultural homicide or Karo-Kari. "In some cultures, people feel some boundaries are never to be crossed, and if someone would violate those practices or go against it, then murder is justified to them," Muhammad said, adding there are hundreds of cases annually in his native Pakistan. Muhammad's report contains statistics from the United Nations Population Fund which reveal that more than 5,000 women are victims of so-called "honour" killings each year. "In different cultures, they can get away without being punished -- the courts actually sanction them under religious contexts," he said. Along with extreme traditional beliefs, there are deeper mental health issues that need to be considered, Muhammad said. Quite often, people who are willing to kill members of their own family to restore some notion of honour are doing so, not just because they believe it to be right based on culture, but also because they are mentally ill in some way. "Somehow, it gets ignored," Muhammad said, citing a lack of understanding in the West and the lack of mental health personnel in developing nations as part of the problem. "I once wrote an article on suicide bombers, and I found there were psychological undercurrents that were not addressed properly." Muhammad suggests more study should be carried out on Karo-Kari, which he refers to as being a transcultural mental health issue. He also insists that mental health practitioners, even forensic psychiatrists, in western nations like Canada need to make sure they are prepared and trained to tackle such matters well in advance. "You will see, 10 years down the road, this will not be very new for even a society like Canada," he said. "A special watch is warranted from a legal point of view." canada.com © The Leader-Post (Regina) 2007