ONLINE ONLY: Doctoral student to educate about Pakistani honor killings

Rafia Zakaria was born and raised in Pakistan, a country where she said men routinely kill women in the name of family or tribal honor and are rarely punished. When she moved to the United States nine years ago, Zakaria got an opportunity few Pakistani women have: the chance to speak out against such honor killings. \n"The freedom we have in the U.S. gives us the ability to talk about these practices that we probably couldn't talk about in Pakistan," Zakaria said. "Here the government can't intimidate you." \nZakaria, a doctoral student in political science, is presenting "Honor Killings in Pakistan: The Fruits and Perils of Transnational Feminism" today from 12 - 1 p.m. at the Asian Culture Center, located at 807 E. Tenth Street. An informal roundtable discussion will take place while a light lunch is served. \nAccording to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan's 2005 world report, Pakistan's Interior Ministry reports about 4,000 honor killings have taken place over the last six years, while groups not affiliated with the government reported more than 1,300 in 2003. Zakaria said that because honor killing is considered a private family matter rather than a crime against the State, it often goes undocumented, and its prevalence could be underestimated. \nThe presentation is part of the Monday Table Topics that the ACC holds the first Monday of each month. Babita Upadhyay, program and administrative director of the ACC, said this is a very low-key discussion program that usually includes visiting professors and scholars or experts from IU. \n"Our mission is to educate about what is going on in the world, and this is the reality of what is going on," Upadhyay said.\nZakaria said the concept of honor killing is centered on the idea of a woman being a symbol of her family, tribe or clan honor. If a woman dishonors the family in any way, by getting pregnant out of wedlock or speaking to a man to whom she is not related, the family must eliminate the source of shame and kill the dishonorable woman. \n"If no one brings charges, these crimes go completely unpunished," Zakaria said, adding that "honor killing represents the absolute urgency in this issue; it shows a woman's life being meaningless to herself, just a symbol of her father's honor." In the end, it is a "commodification of women" in which the truth does not really matter, she said. \nOften, such honor killings are justified through Islamic doctrine, even though many religious groups and leaders have spoken out against such a relation, Zakaria said. Even so, those who commit such murders are often considered heroes and protectors of honor by the State. \nThe subject of Pakistani women's rights is very important to her, Zakaria said, especially in her work with the Asian-American Network Against Abuse of Human Rights. Working with other human rights organizations, ANAA recently pressured the Pakistani government to allow a Pakistani victim of tribe-ordered gang rape named Mukhtar Mai to come to the United States to speak out about her experience. \nZakaria said she believes "the power of global civilized society is incredible to bring about changes," just as it did for Mai, who is just one of thousands of Pakistani women who have been victimized in the name of honor. She said she hopes that her discussion can help to raise awareness and bring voices together that can influence the Pakistani government to make honor killing illegal. \n"I think that the most important thing is that when people get their voices together, the government must listen," she said, adding that it is important "to condemn the practice without condemning the culture"