Tell Her Story – Remembering Victims of Honour-Crimes
5th December 2024
On 28th November 2024, Amina MWRC hosted Tell Her Story in partnership with Glasgow Women’s Library and Tramway.
Tell Her Story aimed to raise awareness of honour-based abuse and the hidden victims of such abuse, who often go unnoticed. In addition to the event, Amina’s Say Her Name campaign was featured in the exhibition space, with artwork that remembered victims of honour-based abuse. The exhibition space also included various art pieces created by Glasgow Women’s Library around the theme of Honour.
The event began with an opening by Amina CEO Mariam Ahmed, introducing the topic of honour-based abuse. The Memorial Walk followed, with a number of volunteers from Amina’s Women’s Friendship Group honouring the victims. During the walk, the women held candles that had been created by the Friendship Group and GWL, with the names of victims whose murders have not been recognised as honour-based killings.
Syma Ahmed, BME Development Officer at GWL outlined the creative inspiration and strategy for the Tell Her Story project, introducing the following performances. A powerful spoken word titled Dear Parveen followed, written by a woman whose friend Parveen was a victim of honour-based abuse. The recount included the writer’s memories of the late Parveen, including childhood recollections of their friendship, and memories around the days she went missing.
Before breaking for prayer, Soma Devi performed a reading from her book on honour-based abuse, The White Dove. As Soma eloquently explained, to fictional character Simran, the white dove stood out as a symbol of freedom from the oppression within her forced marriage. The excerpt highlighted the use of exhaustion by extended family as a means to control and oppress the protagonist. Amina MWRC has previously highlighted extended family abuse as a form of domestic abuse often experienced by Muslim & BME women and the urgent need for legislation to recognise this within our report Sabr, Silence & Struggles, published as part of our Never Allowed campaign in 2023.
Following prayer, keynote speaker Yasmin Javed joined CEO Mariam Ahmed in conversation. The discussion included an overview of the story of Fawziyah Javed, the impact this had had on her family, and an urgent call for honour-based abuse to be recognised within legislation.
Yasmin outlined the importance of this recognition, stating how this would help to prevent future honour-based killings. She mentioned that honour-based abuse reports must be treated as high risk cases, highlighting how necessary measures must be taken to prevent future murders.
Additionally, Yasmin spoke acknowledged that while Fawziyah’s perpetrator is currently behind bars, had honour-based abuse been recognised for the crime it is, Fawziyah’s perpetrator’s parents would also be behind bars with their son for the abuse they inflicted. Contrary to common belief, there is often an element of extended family abuse within already complex cases of honour crimes.
To conclude, Yasmin reflected that while the loss she and her family faced after losing their daughter may never fade, she hopes to continue advocating for honour-based abuse to be recognised as a crime to prevent other families from enduring the endless pain that her family has experienced.
Thank you to all who joined us for the event, with the intention to increase their knowledge around honour-based abuse, and the impact that this has on families. In addition to impacting the victim’s family, undoubtedly, honour crimes have severe detrimental impacts on the wider society. All women must be safe. We must take a stand to end violence against all women and girls, instead of wrongly attributing violence to minority cultures.
If you are currently experiencing honour-based abuse, please report this to the police or call our Helpline at 0808 801 0301. Our Helpline is run by trained staff and volunteers who view each case through a culturally-aware lens. The Amina Helpline is open Monday to Friday, from 10 am to 4 pm.
Amina MWRC is Scotland’s leading women’s rights organisation for Muslim & BME women. We have a number of projects that aim to improve inclusion and combat systemic racism within society. Our projects include the national Helpline, Employability support, Creative Well-Being activities, and our Ending Violence Against Women & Girls campaigns. We also offer Corporate EDI Training, led by our dedicated team.