The Daily Mail headline goes straight for the elephant in the room: this is largely a phenomenon within Muslim communities in Britain. Indeed, Muslims commit 91 percent of honor killings worldwide; honor killings are encouraged by Sharia’s inconsistency on whether parents can be held accountable for the death of their child. There is also the letter and spirit of Qur’an 4:34, which makes violence (yes, violence) an acceptable recourse for dealing with “disobedient” women.
Apologists are bound to point out that domestic violence exists in all societies, including the U.S. and Britain. That is true, but here is the difference: in those societies, it is actively denounced and combated, not covered over, denied, and excused, or even praised. In the report below, it is noted that the culprits are hailed as heroes in their communities.
The report, and reports about it, are sure to be denounced as “Islamophobic,” even though it was an Iranian and Kurdish women’s organization that compiled it. “Alarming rise of Muslim ‘honour attacks’ in the UK as police reveal thousands were carried out last year,” from the Daily Mail, December 3 (thanks to all who sent this in):
Nearly 3,000 so-called honour attacks were recorded by police in Britain last year, new research has revealed.
According to figures obtained by the Iranian and Kurdish Women’s Rights Organisation (Ikwro), at least 2,823 incidents of ‘honour-based’ violence took place, with the highest number recorded in London.
The charity said the statistics fail to provide the full picture of the levels of ‘honour’ violence in the UK , but are the best national estimate so far.
The data, taken from from 39 out of 52 UK forces, was released following a freedom of information request by Ikwro.
From the BBC report on this topic: “A quarter of police forces in the UK were unable or unwilling to provide data and communities have often been reluctant to talk about the crime, Ikwro said.”
In total, eight police forces recorded more than 100 so called honour-related attacks in 2010.
The Metropolitan Police saw 495 incidents, with 378 reported in the West Midlands, 350 in West Yorkshire, 227 in Lancashire and 189 in Greater Manchester.
Cleveland recorded 153, while Suffolk and Bedfordshire saw 118 and 117 respectively, according to the figures.
Between the 12 forces able to provide figures from 2009, there was an overall 47 per cent rise in honour attack incidents.
Police in Northumbria saw a 305 per cent increase from 17 incidents in 2009 to 69 in 2010, while Cambridgeshire saw a 154 per cent jump from 11 to 28.
A quarter of police forces in the UK were unable or unwilling to provide data, Ikwro said.
The report stated: ‘This is the first time that a national estimate has been provided in relation to reporting of honour-based violence.
‘The number of incidents is significant, particularly when we consider the high levels of abuse that victims suffer before they seek help.’
‘Honour’ attacks are punishments usually carried out against Muslim women who have been accused of bringing shame on their family and in the past have included abductions, mutilations, beatings and murder.
Ikwro director Diana Nammi told the BBC that families often deny the existence of the attacks.
She said: ‘The perpetrators will be even considered as a hero within the community because he is the one defending the family and community’s honour and reputation.’….