APPENDIX 43
Memorandum submitted by Iranian and Kurdish
Women's Rights Organisation
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Iranian and Kurdish Women's Rights
Organisation (IKWRO) is a women's and human rights advocacy group
dealing with women, girls (and occasionally men, but only in "honour"
killing cases) who speak Farsi, Kurdish and Arabic, many of whom
are threatened with forced marriage and other crimes motivated
by so-called family "honour". IKWRO have given telephone
support to thousands of callers and performed casework for hundreds
of victims of domestic and `honour'-based violence. We believe:
— Honour is a form
of serious organized crime whose victims require support beyond
that provided by domestic violence institutions.
— Honour crime is
a growing problem.
— Many individuals
within minority communities in Britain are suffering from human
rights abuses.
— Ignorance of "honour"
based crimes within the public sector is risking lives.
— The treatment
of asylum seeking women is discriminatory and dangerous.
— Forced marriage
is a human rights abuse which must be addressed.
1. "HONOUR":
A SPECIAL
CASE
So-called family "honour" is
a patriarchal ideology of oppression. Women who make autonomous
decisions, particularly relating to their private lives, are believed
to have brought "shame" to their family. "Honour"
crime is performed with the intent of limiting the psychological
and physical freedom of women: "honour" killings are
akin to lynching in their intent to maintain the oppression of
women as a gender. It is the organized nature of these murders,
where there is often a collective decision to kill, and a large
conspiracy to evade justice, which makes them a special case when
it comes to the protection of the potential victims and the prosecution
of the perpetrators. Immigrant communities are tightly-knit; immigrant
families are large, and will often collaborate in bringing about
the murder. Potential victims, the majority of whom are young
women who have led sheltered lives, need no less protection than
those threatened by organized crime gangs; and this must include
police protection and new identities. Domestic violence provisions
are often inadequate and inappropriate for this purpose.
1. Domestic violence protection is
inadequate
SS was only nine years old when her family decided
she should be married to her cousin who was fifteen years older
than she was herself. Her father made her stop work to be married.
SS fell in love with her boyfriend SF (now her husband) in 2002.
Her family became suspicious. She was not allowed to make calls
and was under constant surveillance. Her family arranged for her
cousin to come over to the UK for a wedding ceremony. On the day
of her wedding she took an overdose and so the wedding did not
take place. She decided to leave home.
The entire family: brothers, uncles and other
cousins came looking for her and her partner. They feel SS has
disgraced the family by marrying for love and not the partner
they chose for her so they resolved to kill her. We learnt that
they paid a bounty hunter/hit man to kill SS and SF. SS went to
police in London, but police refused to provide any protection
and sent them to the local council where they were told there
were neither refuges for couples, nor for men. They were put in
touch with IKWRO through one of the police station that SS contacted.
We arranged meetings with the police to ensure their safety and
to gain a referral to the council where they were eventually provided
with safe accommodation.
2. A GROWING
PROBLEM
"Honour" crimes and "honour"
killing have long been concealed by their perpetrators in Europe
as part of the conspiratorial and collective nature of these crimes
and they are concealed in statistics by being categorised as "domestic
violence". It is IKWRO's perception that they are increasing:
the independence of younger clashes with the cultural conservatism
of elders who wish to maintain dominance leads to intergenerational
conflict. There is a need to monitor so-called "honour"
crime and forced. There is a need to actively educate the younger
generation in their rights and the recourses available to them,
and to activate the majority of the communities against "honour"
oppression.
Last year, IKWRO intervened in the cases
of 12 women and two men facing death in the name of "honour";
this year IKWRO have been forced to intervene in over 60 cases,
including three men. IKWRO have been forced to limit many of our
services in order to organize protection for those at severest
risk.
IKWRO, like many other organizations
working in the field of the protection of minority women, is severely
under funded and reliant upon volunteers. It is not sufficient
to say that organizations like our own require funding, although
this is desperately true: it is also necessary to say that the
work of protecting women should not be relegated to voluntary
bodies but should be made part of the responsibility of government
and the training of all public sector workers.
3. HUMAN
RIGHTS IN
QUESTION
"Honour" crime is the culmination
of an ideology of male dominance. Women and girls originating
from countries where the "honour" ideology is practiced
may often be unaware of their rights under British law. Britain
has a duty not just to uphold its rights but to spread awareness
of them to all who live in this country, and to provide reassurance
that the human rights of any resident will be protected. The Government
should not be swayed by groups claiming to represent British minority
communities who often defend or minimize the effects and prevalence
of human rights offences. Britain should make an absolute commitment
to full human rights for all and only cooperate with those who
can prove their unreserved commitment to women's equality through
action, not words. Community groups that refuse to acknowledge
and address the abuse of women; forced marriage and "honour"
oppression do not merit funding or public recognition.
"Honour": a Duty to protect
The most painful event for IKWRO this
year was the emerging details of the murder of Banaz Mahmod, whose
father and uncle and an accomplice were found guilty of organizing
her murder. IKWRO learned that although Banaz approached police
for protection on numerous occasions, appropriate measures or
referrals were not made. If the police in this case made grievous
errors through ignorance, then other public sector workers are
even less informed. Women and girls whose families follow the
ideology of "honour" often lead lives circumscribed
by oppressive codes of behavior and have little contact with the
outside world. Moreover, women and girls seeking support in issues
of "honour" related violence or forced marriage may
have only one chance to reach out. All public sector workers should
be ready to provide immediate assistance to vulnerable individuals.
Organisations should formulate their plans to assist and refer
women, girls and men in danger in advance of any request for aid,
as in the cases of "honour" violence and forced marriage
there must be an immediate response.
Surviving a first attempt on her life by her
father, Banaz sought protection from a policewoman who disbelieved
her story, characterising her as hysterical and attention-seeking
and behaved in contravention of police guidelines, rejecting her
and failing to follow up the case. PC Cornes has since been promoted
despite her failure in this case. Banaz sought protection on numerous
occasions from numerous officers, providing the name of those
men found guilty and others that the police are currently pursuing.
Banaz was never given protection or any kind of referral; police
staffs seem to be unaware of the grave danger represented by the
threat of "honour" violence.
This tragedy shows how unprepared the police
are to deal appropriately with so-called "honour"-based
violence. "Honour" killings, as collective organised
crimes of unparalleled brutality, need all public sector workers
to be informed and ready to take action. The case of Banaz Mahmod
should have the galvanising effect on our police forces (and other
public sector workers) as that of Victoria Climbié on our
social services.
4. ASYLUM
SEEKERS FACE
VIOLENCE AND
DISCRIMINATION
The most vulnerable of all people in
our society are those women who face domestic or honour-based
violence yet have "no recourse to public funding". As
an organization which deals with ethnic groups who are recent
arrivals in Britain we often find women who are victims of extraordinary
brutality on the part of their husbands but we are unable to find
housing or a refuge for them due to their status. These women
have the choice of living with constant, life-threatening violence,
facing life on the street and destitution or returning to a country
where they face violence or death. It is unconscionable that these
women face such abominable choices.
Furthermore, we find that the Home Office
often rejects women's asylum application based on violence where
we believe the risk to their lives is very real. Women and men
facing "honour" crime are in no less danger than political
refugees yet, due to the difficulty in proving a family conspiracy
against their lives, they may be sent to their deaths.
3. Deportations threaten lives
Azar was eleven years old when her father forced
her to become the second wife of a man in his late forties. She
decided to choose suicide over a lifetime of rape and doused her
body with petrol and set fire to herself. Her father attempted
to kill her on more than one occasion as she had brought "shame"
to the family by refusing the marriage he had chosen for her,
and by the public defiance of her suicide attempt. With 65% burns,
Azar is seriously disfigured facially: the tops of her fingers
are burnt away to the bone.
Azar joined Zanan Jameh Irani, a woman's rights
organization; and for this she was imprisoned and beaten. While
in prison she witnessed the rape of a prisoner by a policeman.
She reported this incident despite threats against her, and the
policeman lost his job. He vowed to kill her in reprisal.
Azar was saved by her uncle who arranged for
her to come to the UK for medical treatment where she applied
for asylum which was denied.
Azar was detained on the 7 November, and deported
on the 8th. Azar's deportation had previously been successfully
stayed; Azar's friends and supporters had no chance to repeat
this success. Due to her disfigurement, Azar is very distinctive
and easily identified by those who wish her harm; she has also
been rejected by many for her appearance. She has no support;
as a lone woman she must register with the police, risking re-arrests
or information being leaked to the police officer who bears her
a grudge.
As a further insult, we note that many
women and girls forced into marriage are unable to access the
services of the Forced Marriage Unit due to their immigration
status, yet we often encounter girls of Afghan, Kurdish and Turkish
origin forced into marriage with no recourse to any service.
4. No recourse to public funding regulations
threaten lives
SA entered the UK in November 2004 on a marriage
visa. Her husband became extremely violent (physically, mentally,
sexually and financially) toward her soon after her arrival. To
SA's knowledge, her husband was a violent criminal. He told her
that he didn't love her and that he loved another woman with whom
he had been having an affair. He asked her to leave and threatened
to kill her if she refused go back to her country. SA discussed
her situation with her uncle (her legal guardian); he told her
that she had not been a good wife to her husband and that she
had no rights; she was not permitted return because this would
bring shame to her family.
We contacted police and at the same time tried
hard to locate safe accommodation for her, but there were no places
for her as she was not entitled to statutory welfare benefit,
and had no income to pay toward her housing and living costs.
The police couldn't help her for the same reason. She decided
to stay with a family friend, but her husband found out and threatened
them, took her back and assaulted her.
We managed to get an injunction and she can stay
in the flat. We claimed asylum for her on the grounds of domestic
violence: she is still waiting for her decision.
During the last few months, she had no income
to live on whatsoever.
5. FORCED
MARRIAGE AND
"HONOUR" KILLINGS
IKWRO believe there is an absolute correlation
between the crime of forced marriage and crimes committed in the
name of "honour". In cultures where marriages are conducted
between families, and where women are valued for their capacities
for domestic labour and childbearing above all others, submission
and chastity become the essential of a woman's worth in life.
It is precisely the nature of marriage as a transaction between
families that creates the condition of "shame" for a
family suspected of passing on unacceptable merchandise. Forced
marriage is often in itself an honour crime, used as a punishment
for girls who defy parental authority and as a means to increase
masculine control over a woman.
IKWRO believe that protection of victims
is insufficient to eliminate forced marriage and that there must
be deterrents. We urge that police actively prosecute parents
involved in forced marriage as accomplices to rape or child abuse,
and where the victim has been taken abroad, for sexual trafficking.
Marriage celebrants should be made responsible for verifying both
the ages and the consent of potential spouses and should also
be prosecuted under the strongest provisions of current law if
they knowingly perform a forced or underage marriage. We also
support the idea advanced by the Conservative party that marriages
abroad should be registered in advance before there is any entitlement
to British citizenship to ensure that the British spouse is aware
of the proposed marriage and consents to it.
IKWRO regrets that forced marriage was
not criminalized fully when there was an opportunity to do so,
and we believe this option should be reconsidered if monitoring
(as suggested in paragraph 2) reveals there is no decrease.
5. Forced marriage as honour crime
IKWRO were contacted by B, a 14 year old girl
from a country in Central Asia. Her father had discovered she
had formed a friendship with a boy, and had been chatting with
him on her mobile phone. To punish her, he threatened to kill
her, but compromised in proposing to marry her to his handicapped
nephew in his fifties, who lives in a village "back home",
describing her as a "gift" to him.
S's father had been threatening her with a knife
that he recently bought and told her that he had bought it for
the purpose of her murder.
Social services located a foster family for her.
13 November 2007
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