From the Scotsman: RAPE victims in Turkey can be forced by their own families to marry their rapists - or risk being killed in the name of family honour, according to a United Nations report released today.Of course, as usual, the UN and the EU fail to offer any solutions, but at least they are aware of the problem...
The report, by the United Nations Population Fund, is the first in-depth study in Turkey of the different motivations behind "honour-killings", where women and young girls are murdered by their relatives for allegedly bringing shame on the family.
Human rights activists estimate that hundreds of Turkish women are murdered in such killings each year.
The issue is a major concern for the European Union, which is monitoring human rights improvements made by Turkey in its attempt to join the EU by 2015.
Many such killings take place in poorer communities where family life is dominated by patriarchal and tribal traditions.
The UN report reveals that in such communities, women who have been raped are often seen as having dishonoured their families.
"When a girl is raped by a man, since she is no longer a virgin, it is usually believed that the best way to solve the problem is to get them married, especially if the man is not already married," the report says.
This sort of thing isn't really news, it has been going on for centuries in that part of the world. Yet we pretend it doesn't matter.
I am ashamed that the United States even does any sort of business with these people. And really, should we be sending in the Marines to stop this sort of thing?
