In December 2007, 16-year-old Aqsa Parvez was murdered in her Ontario home. Everyone was shocked to find out the killers were her own father and brother. Their reasoning: Aqsa wanted to wear western clothing, work part-time and had run away from home. It was an honour killing.
The term that became nationally known after Aqsa’s death. In the past decade, there have been up to a dozen honour killings in Canada. Most of them are tied to conservative Islamic tradition clashing with western culture.
Just as shocked as everyone, the Muslim community said nothing in Islam sanctions these kinds of killing. Dr. Samiul Hague from the Islamic Association of Saskatchewan says the term is very troubling.
“From a religious point of view, there is not such honour killing kind of thing,” he said. “There is no concept of that.”
If fact, he explained there is a focus on reducing violence against Muslim women, with the Imam speaking specifically about the case.
“He did speak out against that kind of behaviour, and we’ve had other similar type sermons about domestic violence and that kind of thing,” Hague said. “There’s really no place for it in our religion.”
Luther College Women’s Studies lecturer, Brenda Anderson, uses the example of hundreds of missing and murdered First Nations women to say it is not just a religious issue.
“It is a global problem, it is a Canadian problem,” Anderson said. “Muslims are part of that, but they are not unique in being violent against women.”
She says protecting at risk women, whatever the religion, should be a bigger focus from all levels of government.
“They are not putting money into shelters for girls that need to escape these violent families,” Anderson explained. “Aqsa, I understand, fled twice from her home looking for security. She didn't find it.”
Hague hopes the public focuses on ending violence against all women, not the so-called ”˜religious’ reasons behind Aqsa’s murder.
“I think it is an issue of men trying to control women,” he said, “and there’s no place for that type of behaviour.”
Meanwhile, Aqsa’s father and brother were sentenced to life behind bars for their crime.
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