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The problem persists around the world – and it’s also an urgent reason to fear our own government

Gerald Caplan (The Globe and Mail)

Twelve girls and women have been murdered by family members in Canada since 2002; these grisly deaths, perversely known as honour killings, have all taken place in certain minority communities. But these minorities have no monopoly on such savage brutality. In Ontario alone between 2002 and 2007, 202 women were murdered by their partners, an astonishing average of 42 each year.

These appalling statistics were the basis of my column last week on violence against women in Canada, which discouraged a number of readers who have long been engaged in the struggle to end this horror. What they rightly pointed out is how long this battle has been raging, and yet how widespread the phenomenon remains throughout the world. Read more…

Honour killings in Canada: even worse than we believe

Gerald Caplan

Special to The Globe and Mail Published on Friday, Jul. 23, 2010

If you are already sufficiently appalled knowing there’ve been 12 despicable “honour killings” in Canada since 2002, don’t read any further. This is only the tip of a nightmarish iceberg, I’m afraid.

For some reason, the term honour killings seems to be reserved for murders committed by male family members against daughters or sisters in South Asian or Middle Eastern communities. These unimaginable crimes have been receiving much high-profile notoriety in the Canadian media, as they surely deserve. All Canadians must now know of the tragic murder of 16-year old Aqsa Parvez of Mississauga, strangled to death three years ago by her brother and father. Read more…