Day: May 18, 2001

Lebanon recently held a two-day conference to explore the problem of so-called honor killings in that country. In an honor killing a woman who has allegedly disgraced her family’s honor is killed by her husband or other close male relative. Such murders are still an all-too common affair in some countries.

In Lebanon, for example, lawyers speaking about the topic estimated that about one woman per month is killed as part of an honor killing (typically for allegedly committing adultery or engaging in pre-marital sex). Technically Lebanon’s legal code was modified in 1999 to outlaw the practice, but many men in the country believe that they will not suffer any legal penalty for such killings.

In addition, men who commit honor killings are allowed to use that as a mitigating circumstance in their trial. A man convicted of an honor killing might receive only a few months in jail.

Honor killings are a big problem in countries such as Pakistan and India where, as in Lebanon, they are technically illegal but prevailing customs mean judges and juries look the other way and let perpetrators of honor killings off with light sentences.

Fortunately there are a growing number of women and men in these countries starting to stand up and demand an end to this hideous practice.

Source:

Beirut hosts ‘honour killing’ conference. Kim Gattas, The BBC, May 13, 2001.

I feel the same way about fatherhood as I do about abortion — I don’t care what you do in private, just don’t make me subsidize it. But along comes a bipartisan coalition of Democrats and Republicans who think the solution to a myriad of social problems is to simply throw millions of dollars into fatherhood programs.

Democratic Sen. Evan Bayh and Republic Sen. Pete Domenici propose spending $380 million over 5 years to promote what they call “responsible fatherhood.” Noting that up to one-third of children currently live with homes out there father, and that there is a direct correlation between absentee fathers and a host of social ills, Bayh and Domenici want to spend the money on programs that would provide counseling and parenting programs for men.

“We must try to counsel men to wait until they are ready to assume the awesome responsibility of bringing a child into the world,” Bayh told Hearst Newspapers.

Up to $25 million of the funding would pay for public service announcements about marriage and responsible fatherhood.

Ugh. Thanks, but no thanks. I don’t see anywhere in the Constitution where COngress is empowered to aid in establishing “responsible fatherhood.” Besides which, if other government programs designed to alter deeply ingrained social attitudes about things like drug usage are any indicator, it is all but given that such a program will have little if any impact on increasing the number of responsible fathers.

Source:

Senators push solution to the father of all problems. Hearst Newspapers, May 2, 2001.