Quebec women's council unveils 7 steps to stop 'honour crimes'
More can be done to help prevent so-called "honour-based violence" in Canada, says the Quebec Council for the Status of Women.
In 2011, the Quebec government mandated the council to study the phenomenon in light of the Shafia case.
Mohammad Shafia, his wife Tooba Yahya and their son Hamed were convicted of murdering Shafia's three teenage daughters and his first wife in January 2012.
The Quebec Council for the Status of Women has come out with seven recommendations after studying 17 reports of so-called honour crimes in Canada since 1991. In the cases studied, 12 victims were killed and five survived.
“What is most troubling, is that these murders are only the tip of the iceberg. Honour-based violence takes many forms that are not exclusive to any culture or religion, as indicated by the different faiths and origins of Canadian victims,” said council president Julie Miville-Dechêne.
The council was careful to point out that so-called honour-based violence is not exclusive to ethnic communities.
"It was not too long ago that in Quebec, teen mothers were sent away from home until their pregnancies came to term," a statement from the council said.
