Other family members arrive at the scene to find her on the ground, bleeding. They rush her to the hospital, but she dies on the way.
This case of an honor killing, which happened last year, is not an isolated one in Iran. The murder of women and girls at the hands of their male kin - fathers, brothers, and husbands - take place often in the name of familial honor.
Zhina Muddaris Gorji, women’s rights activist in Sanandaj, believes poverty is among the factors that drive the killings.
“Honor killing is caused by several factors...poverty is one of the most important factors behind this problem,” Gorji said. “In spite of that, there are legal and cultural issues such as, related to poverty; some families force their children into early marriage without their consent.”
This summer, several women were murdered in suspected so-called honor killings. The economic crisis, coupled with increasing resistance by women to accept traditional gender-based roles, is a factor activists believe is contributing to the violence.
According to Dr. Jamal Adhami, a sociologist and lecturer at the University of Kurdistan in Sanandaj, honor killings in a family tarnish social acceptance.
“One of the consequences of honor killing is the bad reputation in society for the members of the family, especially the children,” Adhami said. “They feel disgraced.... It’s so hard for them to gain social acceptance to find someone to marry or for their future.”
Adhami said members of a family “should be taught not to resort to violence when resolving their conflicts.”
Iran’s judiciary provides no legal prevention of this issue, Gorji said. But it is important that women’s rights activists don’t allow this issue to “remain in the dark.” She said that conversation about the issue will cause cases to “decrease gradually and, one day, end completely.”
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