Muslims in Germany: Dozens of attempted and accomplished "honor killings"

In the past two years, at least 26 people have been victims of attempted or completed so-called honor killings in Germany.

Berlin - This is based on an investigation by Terre des Femmes, about which the Welt am Sonntag reports. In it, the women's rights organization evaluates press reports on ongoing court proceedings and judgments on such crimes. From the beginning of 2021 to the end of 2022, there were 13 fatalities from honor violence, nine of them women.

There are also 13 other victims of attempted murder, eight of them men. In these cases, the supposed "violation of honor" regularly consists of behavior that violates imposed behavioral norms on female sexuality and the social position of women. Women are denied the right to lead a free life.

Men can also become victims of this misogynist thinking, such as new, "illegitimate" partners or fathers of illegitimate children. Elisabeth Gernhardt, officer for violence at Terre des Femmes, told the Welt am Sonntag: "We assume that the number of unreported cases is high, since many of those affected remain silent out of fear or do not know who to talk with." Many are also minors and therefore particularly dependent on their families.

So-called honor killings are "just the tip of the iceberg," Gernhardt continued. "Girls and women are oppressed, abused and forced into marriage in the name of honor." The vice-president of the Union parliamentary group, Andrea Lindholz, said: "The cultural and religious connections must be clearly named. These incredible acts testify to a completely failed integration. Anyone who follows a brutal, archaic code of honor has in nothing to look for in Germany."

Source: Der Newsticker

Photo: dpa/Rainer Jensen