It
is time for Kurdish women to tell their stories … Ata Mala Karim
www.klawrojna.com 29 June 2006 KurdishMedia.com www.kurdmedia.com
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
It is not far behind for history
when English women have started to tell their own stories about domestic
violence and abuse in the 1970’s. In the 1970’s with the growing of feminism in
the UK
the English women were invited to tell their own stories. What was very
interesting in those stories was the fact that when they were talking about
their hard lives in the present, they took flashbacks to their miserable lives
in the childhood.
Muncie& McLaughlin (2001)
argue that although domestic violence is recognized long before child abuse,
however when women told their stories about domestic violence they revealed
that they have experienced sexual and physical abuse as children and domestic
violence as adults. So, the feminist activists in the 1970’s England did not only bring domestic
violence to light but child abuse as well; which was a hidden crime behind
closed doors.
Family is traditionally known as
a place of privacy and safety in contrast to the dangerous outside world.
People usually feel safe when they are at home or even close to home, however
family can be a dangerous place and a site of crime. Crime such as child abuse;
physically, sexually, emotionally and mentally are mostly practiced at home,
although this is not specific as child abuse may happen at care, and other
places such as schools, churches, mosques and in the hands of the criminals
justice officials. Domestic violence does not need any further explanation, as
it is a specific crime for home and family, both traditional and contemporary
friendship relationships.
Hale et al. (2005) mention some
reasons for domestic violence such as low socio-economic status, dysfunctional
families, pathological and medical reasons, patriarchy, the marginal role of
women at home, alcoholism and drug addiction, weak community sanctions and male
culture- machismo. If we look at the Kurdish society we can easily recognize
many of these groundings for domestic violence, as well as some other
conditions not mentioned or known by the authors.
Honour killing is part of Kurdish
tradition both at home and in the Diaspora. Many articles are written regarding
honour killing and many researches have been carried on in that filed. Honour
killing is a brutal crime, a worse kind of crimes and of murder as well. It is
one of the most pre-planned and deliberately executed murder crimes. However
domestic violence is not only murder and so called honour killing, it may has
many forms from rape within marriage, physical abuse, mental abuse and
emotional abuse.
Kurdish family, same as other
cultures, is known as a safe castle against the dangerous outside world.
However there are many crimes which happen behind closed doors and within that
safe castle, without any interference from the criminal justice agencies.
Muncie, McLaughlin (2001) argue that if a man hit another man in the street it
is well recognized as assault and crime, however if a man hits his wife or
children it is known as a private matter; dealing with a trouble child, taming
a bad wife, discipline, stress and etc… It can be argued that even honour
killing is widely accepted in the eastern communities as a right of a man to
take care of the so called honour of his family or relatives by killing a woman
who has sex with a man outside of marriage. In this situation instead of
blaming and criticism he may get a lot of support from the community. It is
worth mentioning that there is evidence of some progress in this area; however
it is still in its primitive stage.
Even in the developed
industrialized countries domestic violence is widely practiced, however not all
of it is reported to the police for many reasons, such as shame, to keep the
family together, economical reasons, not wanting to hurt the husband, believing
it is normal and it is her fault, so blaming herself, not seen and even when
seen not considered as a crime. [Muncie
and McLaughlin (2001)] In the Kurdish society, same as all the other oriental
societies, marriage is not always a private relationship between two adults,
but there are so many traditional and tribal ties which put it in a tight net
that it is difficult to flee away from it. The relationship is considered as a
relationship between the wider families of cousins, far cousins, uncles, aunts
and all the other relatives. In this context any criticism of the husband is an
insult against the man’s wider family which may bring bigger problems for the
woman’s wider family. In this case many Kurdish women keep their problems for
themselves and suffer in silence.
I have not a full investigation
or research of the way the criminal justice agencies, the police and the courts
deal with domestic violence in Kurdistan right
now. From my personal experience as an adult male member of that society I have
a lifelong wealth of information about domestic violence in the Kurdish
society.
Since the uprising of 1991 a
feminist movement in Kurdistan grew and it can
be argued that they have contributed to the awareness of women and men as well
in that society of the dangers of fatal abuses such as honour killings, girl
circumcision, forced marriage, under age marriage and domestic violence.
However, unfortunately these women organizations are part of the political
scenario and it is apparent that each political party has it is own women
organization, such as Zhinan from the PUK (Patriotic Union of Kurdistan) and
Afratan form KDP (Kurdistan Democratic Party). Ironically both Zhinan and
Afratan mean women in Kurdish language and they choose two synonyms to
make them recognized as two different organizations. In some regions of Kurdistan they use zhin (singular of Zhinan) for married
women and Afrat (singular of Afratan) for female adults in the society, same as
woman in English. The other political parties have formed their own women
organizations and it is interesting to know that the Workers Communist Party
called their organization the Neutral Women’s Organization, but it is very
difficult to find a real Neutral organization in Kurdistan !
Kurdistan now has a unified
regional government, they are planning for unification of all the government
institutions, they have a president, prime-minister and a parliament; so it can
be argued that it is time for Kurdish women to form their own independent
professional women society far from the political parties and the political
conflicts. They can concentrate on women rights and lobby for reforms in the
Kurdish parliament for the benefits of women, regardless of their political or
ideological belongings.
If Kurdish women have a chance to
tell their own stories in their own words, we will realize how they are
oppressed and how much they suffer. Without research and data, without
campaigns and lobbies, without a voice to represent them, only a small minority
may know about domestic violence, or more specifically, few people recognize it
as a crime and even anti-social behaviour and deviance.
It is obvious that domestic
violence and child abuse is not specified to the eastern or the third world
countries, it is present almost every where, but by different degrees. A
research in the UK
in 1999 has revealed that:
§
One in four women
experience domestic violence.
§
Every week two women are
killed by their current or former partners.
§
Everyday thousands of
children witness cruelty and violence behind closed doors.
§
One fourth of all violent
crime is domestic violence.
[Muncie , & McLaughlin, 2001]
It can be argued that domestic
violence and child abuse in the Kurdish society needs scientific and filed
research. Children and the younger generation need better education and
training in order to know their rights and the rights of others. Women have to
get a chance to express themselves and have a voice to be heard outside the
political circle of the political parties. Without a good progress in the
fields of women and children rights any argument about human rights in Kurdistan is just waste of time and paper and nothing
else.
Ata mala Karim Student of BA
(hons) Criminology
Bibliography:
Hale, C., et al,
(2005) Criminology. Oxford : Oxford University
Press.
Kelly, L. (1999): Domestic Violence Matters: An evaluation
of a Development Project. Home Office Research Study 193, London : Home Office. (Online)
Available from:http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs/hors193.pdf
Accessed: 23 Jun. 06
Moore, S. (1997) Investigating Crime and Deviance.2nd
edition, London :
Collins.
Williams,
K., S., (2004) Textbook on Criminology. 5th ed. Oxford :
Oxford University Press.
Different
Kurdish websites and e-Journals online.
No comments:
Post a Comment