Data Bases • Custom Term Papers • Free Term Papers • Free Research Papers • Free Essays • Free Book Reports • Plagiarism? Links • Top 100 Term Paper Sites • Top 25 Essay Sites • Top 50 Essay Sites • Search 97,000 Papers @ DirectEssays.com • Search 101,000 Papers @ ExampleEssays.com • Search 90,000 Papers @ MegaEssays.com Free Essays • Term Paper Sites • Chuck III's Free Essays • Free College Essays • TermPaperSites.com • My Term Papers • Get Free Essays • Essay World • Planet Papers	Search Lots of Essays Back to Subjects - Religion Honor Killings Honor Killings For thousands of years women have been looked down upon in society and have not been treated as equals. It wasn’t very long ago that women in America weren’t allowed to have jobs or vote, men were always the leaders. Just tonight my father was saying how when he was growing up if you talked back to your father or husband you would be punished, and that was only about thirty or forty years ago. I believe that today’s American woman take their freedom for granted. In some cultures women still do not have the privilege of being considered an equal and have no rights. In countries where Islam is practiced they have honor killings, where “woman are murdered by their families each year in the name of family “honor.” For my second portfolio I have chosen to discuss the practice of honor killings and how wrong they are. This article shows us how different America is from other places in the world. Honor killings would be unheard of here because we understand that women are equal and deserve the right to be free. “Honor killings are perpetrated for a wide range of offenses. Marital infidelity, pre-marital sex, flirting, or even failing to serve a meal on time can all be perceived as impugning the family honor.” In America nearly every woman could be persecuted for committing all these so-called offenses. These are all normal, ok things for us. However in places such as “Bangladesh, Great Britain, Brazil, Ecuador, Egypt, India, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Pakistan, Morocco, Sweden, Turkey, and Uganda,” if you were a woman and you did any of these things you would be killed, and by your own family. The worst part is that it’s not only the men that support this, but also “the females in the family - mothers, mother-in-laws, sisters, and cousins…It’s a community mentality.” I think the women agree with honor killings because they are afraid of what will happen to them if they stand up for themselves or for any other woman. The fact is that they will be killed themselves if they do. One point in the article, which I found unacceptable, relates to chapter five in the text about marriage. “In India, more than 5,000 brides die annually because their dowries are considered insufficient, according to the United Nations Children’s Fund.” If this is going to happen either the United Nations Children’s Fund should remove this statement, or dowries should not be used in Indian marriages anymore. This may be considered ethnocentrism on my part but women are human beings and deserve the right to live life and not be afraid. In my opinion honor killings are wrong. I can’t understand how you could kill a woman in your family for any reason, let alone not serving a meal on time. There was even a case where “a husband murdered his wife based on a dream that she had betrayed him.” This type of behavior wouldn’t relieve any dishonor that a woman could bring into a family but rather put more dishonor and shame onto a family because they have committed murder. The governments of these nations know that honor killings are wrong, people are punished when they are caught doing this. However usually the murders go unknown or the people find ways to get out of being convicted. In some places, “the teenage brothers of victims are frequently directed to commit the murder because, as minors, they would be subject to considerably lighter sentencing if there is legal action. Typically, they would serve only three months to a year.” These governments need to do more about this problem. It is wrong and barbaric. There are so many cultures different from our own. Usually I find these differences good and interesting to learn about, but honor killings should not be part of any culture. Just the thought that, “honor killings in Pakistan, where it is estimated that every day at least three women - including victims of rape - are victims of the practice,” makes me sick. Something needs to be done about this, it is happening in too many places in the world. Women should not be treated like animals and tossed around because they are physically weaker than males. People everywhere need to support women’s rights and help put a stop to honor killings. Bibliography: Word Count: 725
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