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The News Coverage of Honour Killings in Canadian Newspapers

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The News Coverage of Honour Killings in Canadian Newspapers The News Coverage of Honour Killings in Canadian Newspapers By Negin Vatandoost A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in The Faculty of Social Science and Humanities Criminology University of Ontario Institute of Technology May 2012 © Negin Vatandoost, 2012 Abstract The issue of honour killings has become a prominent topic of discussion in the Western discourse of violence against immigrant women. In Canada, particularly, the recent high-profile cases of honour killings have drawn increased attention from the media, academics and the public. The prevalent discussion links these murders to the broader issues of immigration, multiculturalism, and violence against immigrant women. In this thesis, I examine the nature of honour killings, their components, and the discourse of honour killings in its Canadian context. In doing so, I conduct a textual analysis of the representation of three recent honour killings in two major Canadian newspapers; The Toronto Star and The Globe and Mail. Results suggest that honour killings touched a nerve in Canadian media leading to the use of culturalist approaches to understand and represent these killings. This culturalist approach to the debate created serious obstacles for clarifying or explaining this form of violence against women. It further hindered any constructive public debate about ending these killings. The consequences of the culturalist approach to honour killings as well as recommendations for future research and theoretical developments in this area of violence against women are suggested. Key words: honour, honour killings, media, violence against immigrant women, culture, Islam ii This thesis is dedicated to the memory of Dua Khalil Asvad, a 17 year-old Kurdish girl who murdered in front of hundreds of men for falling in love with a boy, a murder that is named ‗honour killing‘. It is written in solidarity with those who think and work against violence, all over the world. iii Acknowledgments I owe my most sincere gratitude to my supervisor, Dr. Nawal Ammar. Thank you for being a wonderful and enthusiastic supervisor. Your role was central to selecting my area of research, conducting this study, and in shaping how I think and where I am today. Your leadership, attention to details, and hard work have set an example which I hope to match someday. I am truly grateful for the time you spent in discussing the subject matter with me, bringing new questions, and reading and editing my work. I will miss our meetings when I used to come out having your words in my mind ―I am sure you can do this‖. Nothing has been more encouraging than your faith in my abilities. It is difficult to overstate my gratitude to my committee members Dr. Shahid Alvi and Dr. Arshia Zaidi. Dr. Alvi, thank you for being a great intellectual mentor over the course of my studies at UOIT. Your knowledge, intellectuality, and constant support from my early Master‘s days to its final stages have been valuable sources of learning for which I am truly grateful. Dr. Zaidi, I thank you for your guidance, mentorship, and above all for your encouragement and support during the times of anxiety and doubt. You gave me the warmth of a support when I had the most difficult times of my life. Thank you for making me feel that UOIT is my home. I would like to thank Dr. Aziz Douai for being my external examiner. Your feedback in the final stages of this thesis is invaluable. I also thank the staff of the Faculty of Social Sciences for making my life as an international student easier by their support whenever I needed one. I am indebted to my friends at the Master‘s program of criminology for creating a lively environment of learning. I owe special thanks to Amanda Couture for being a brilliant friend from the early stages and when I had the most difficult times to study. I thank you for providing the lighter moments during the times of stress. I am also truly indebted to Alana Saulnier for being a wonderful friend and companion in the past two years. Our friendship is what that I take with me from my life in Oshawa. I am grateful to my parents, gone but not forgotten, for instilling in me the hope and enthusiasm to follow my dreams. You will remain the compass of my life. My appreciation is also for my siblings for teaching me, supporting me, and loving me in all the years. Despite the distance between you and me, you were always nearby. My lovely nieces; Sarah, Honia, and Haneh, thank you for always knowing how to put a smile on my face and being the source of my joy and inspiration. My gratitude and love is for my best friend, Fahim who stood by me through the good and bad times. I cannot thank you enough for your patience and companionship in the most stressful times. You inspired, supported, understood, and loved me at every moment and for this I am truly grateful. iv Table of Contents Introduction ................................................................................................................ 1 Chapter 1: Literature Review ..................................................................................... 8 1.1 Definition of Honour Killings .............................................................................. 8 1.2 The Concept of Honour.................................................................................... 9 1.2.1 Honour as a Term ...................................................................................... 9 1.2.2 Honour and the Masculine/Feminine Divide .......................................... 10 1.2.3 Losability of Honour: The Concept of Shame ........................................ 12 1.2.4 The Role of Reputation within Community ............................................ 14 1.2.5 Honour Codes as Means of Social Control ............................................. 15 1.3 Honour Killings, Origin and Components ..................................................... 16 1.3.1 Honour killings; Origin and the World-Wide Practice ........................... 16 1.3.2 Components of Honour Killings ............................................................. 18 1.4 State Interventions in Honour Codes ............................................................. 20 1.5 Honour Killings in the Immigration Context ................................................. 23 1.6 Honour Killings in the Media ........................................................................ 27 1.7 Punishment and Prevention of Honour Killings ............................................ 30 1.8 Significance of the Current Study .................................................................. 32 Chapter 2: Methods .................................................................................................. 35 2.1 Textual Analysis ............................................................................................ 36 2.2 Studying the Media ........................................................................................ 37 2.3 Data Collection .............................................................................................. 40 2.4 Cases of Honour Killings ............................................................................... 41 2.4.1 The Case of Aqsa Parvez ........................................................................ 41 2.4.2 The Case of Amandeep Kaur Dhillan ..................................................... 43 2.4.3 The Case of the Shafia Family ................................................................ 43 2.5 The Sample .................................................................................................... 44 v 2.6 Coding and Method of Analysis .................................................................... 45 Chapter 3: Results .................................................................................................... 48 3.1 Descriptive Statistics of the Newspapers Coverage ....................................... 49 3.1.1 Space and the Length of Coverage ......................................................... 49 3.1.2 Placement of the Stories .......................................................................... 51 3.2 Media Frames of the Murders ........................................................................ 53 3.2.1 The Murder of Aqsa ................................................................................ 53 3.2.1.1 Culture Clash within Immigrant Families ........................................ 55 3.2.1.2 The Role of Islam ............................................................................. 58 3.2.1.3 The Hijab Debate ............................................................................. 61 3.2.1.4 The Picture of the Victim and the Perpetrators ................................ 63 3.2.1.5 Elements of Universal Feminist Approaches ................................... 67 3.2.2 The Murder of Amandeep ....................................................................... 70 3.2.3 The Murder of the Shafia Family ............................................................ 74 3.2.3.1 Images of the Victims and the Perpetrators ..................................... 77 3.2.3.2 Elements of Universal Feminist Approaches ................................... 79 Chapter 4: Discussion .............................................................................................. 81 4.1 The Battle over Bodies of Muslim Women ................................................... 85 4.2 Portrayal of Victims and Victimizers of Honour
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