Leigh in Azerbaijan

By approaching the families of women in danger, an NGO saves 13 women from almost certain death

DİYARBAKIR – Anatolia News Agency

Thirteen women whose families had decided to murder them, in the name of “honor killings” for supposedly tarnishing the families’ name, were saved by a nongovernmental organization that persuaded the families against such an act.

  According to reports, 13 women applied to the Diyarbakır Women’s Problem Research Center (DİKASUM) last year, saying their lives were in danger.

The group approached the families and managed to save the women form almost certain death.

A number of women are killed every year by their families for shaming the families’ name, which can range from talking to a man or being raped. Usually, a family assembly meets and orders the murder of the woman, charging one of the men, usually a brother, with committing the murder. In the past, family members who committed such crimes were eligible for clemency, but recent changes in a law ensured that not only the murderer, but also the members of the family assembly who incited the murder, are charged for manslaughter and are not eligible for clemency.