Honor killings are crimes against humanity
In the midst of the news, we read that Fatemeh Barkhodari, a Sabzevari
teacher and mother of three, was stabbed to death in public by a man who was
calling her husband on May 12, 1404, coinciding with Teacher's Day. This is the
tip of the iceberg of an unforgivable crime of honor killing victims that has
emerged in the dark heart of the uncultured and religiously oppressed society
and challenges the conscience of anyone who considers themselves human. Of
course, we, along with thousands of human rights activists and defenders of
women's rights, strongly condemn these crimes and demand the prosecution of the
murderers. But these condemnations are worthless until we restore the balance
of power in every neighborhood, village, family and tribe against this barbarity
and prevent the reproduction of these human tragedies, because they will not
prevent the occurrence of the next honor killing.
To consign the most brutal manifestation of patriarchy to history, we need
to establish a mass movement and fight this phenomenon of the age of ignorance
on all fronts. A group of teachers have condemned and scrutinized these crimes
in their statement, and by doing so, they have willingly or unwillingly become
the pioneers of the movement to end these crimes. We call on all women's and
children's rights activists, human rights activists, progressive and
humanitarian journalists locally and around the world, and especially education
and training personnel, to pay attention to our proposed provisions and, based
on the balance of local and regional forces, to confront this stinking monster.
The banner of fighting this phenomenon must be raised simultaneously on
three fronts: the media, the judiciary, and education.
- Honorable and humanitarian journalists are at the forefront of exposing
these crimes, the perpetrators, and the officials who have helped perpetuate
these tragedies with their silence. The dormant conscience of civilized people
in that society must be awakened, and the petrified motive for these murders
must be challenged in every newspaper, satellite media, and social media, and
this shameful mark on the foreheads of urban people who pass by these crimes
indifferently must be exposed so that they can try to erase it.
- Direct contact with honorable lawyers in the judiciary to form
fact-finding committees and file cases against all those involved in the
decision-making, preparation, and murder of women and children, and legal
prosecution of officials who have been aware of these crimes in their area of
responsibility and who have kept the matter quiet, including the mayor, the
chief of police and judicial officials.
- Educational staff, including principals, teachers, and professors, should
spend some hours of class raising awareness about the toxic ideas and petrified
and backward thoughts that have led to these crimes, according to the age of
the students.
In fact, the duty of the educational institution in breaking the vicious
circle of producing and reproducing the victim and the murderers in the
phenomenon of honor killings is much heavier, and from the first grade of
elementary school, along with educational sessions with parents and teachers,
they must protect their students from these mental and criminal poisons with
tact and initiative.
Men and women who
seek freedom and equality, we cry out in unison
Honor killings
are shameful and condemned as crimes against humanity!
Organization for Emancipation
of Women
May 10, 2025
