Tragedy & Honour

Kristin Skjørten went through the print editions of two major Norwegian daily newspapers, Aftenposten and VG, over 4 months in the first half of 2002. All of the stories of attacks on and killings of women, within close relationships were registered and read. During this period there were 220 items, divided equally between the two newspapers. Skjørten wanted to find out how the newspapers portrayed the violence. One important theme for her was whether or not the articles led to further debate in the newspapers. In number 4-05 of “Tidsskrift for kjønnsforsking” (Journal for Gender Research), published by KILDEN in Norwegian, she writes about her results.

– Both Each of the newspapers covered nine killings in Norway. In addition, Aftenposten covered eleven other cases of violence, and VG nineteen, Skjørten says. Some of these articles dealt with events from abroad. Among these was the killing of Swedish-Kurdish Fadimetima Sahindal on January 21 2002. The killing of Fadime sparked many articles and much debate. Skjørten has chosen to compare this with debate – or the absence of debate – in connection with other cases of family violence and killings.

The killing of Fadime set off debates about honour

Fadime’s father was quickly arrested for the killing, which was immediately characterised as motivated by honour. Skjørten refers to VG, January 23 2002, which wrote, “Kurdish Fadime Sahindal (26) fell in love with a Swede in 1997. Therefore, she had to die. In the opinion of her father the relationship brought shame upon the family. On Monday evening he murdered Fadime at her sister’s house.”

– The killing of Fadime set off debates about honour. The newspapers presented stories of young people who had broken off with their families to avoid forced marriages, and who could reported that they lived in fear of reprisals. A succession of leaders and commentaries were written on this theme, and politicians proposed measures to counteract forced marriage and to improve the integration of immigrants in general, Skjørten explains.

The debate about the Police’s security routines

Similar debates about honour and coercion were not sparked off by other similar cases, referred to as media serials by Skjørten – media serials are stories that lead to more than three news items. One of these was the killing of Afghan Anooshe Ghulam. In April 2002 she was shot down by her ex-husband outside Kristiansund Police Station. Anooshe and her ex-husband were both on their way to a court hearing on the custody of their children aged 6 and 7. In this case too the newspapers questioned whether the killing was motivated by honour.

– It was the only murder on Norwegian soil that was raised to a more fundamental level. However, the debate that followed the case was not about honour, but rather about whether a father fined for violence against his wife should receive free legal aid in a custody case, about visitation bans and about the Police’s security routines, says Kristin Skjørten.

Two other cases which became media serials – but for the most part in the form of reports of court proceedings without debate – were the case of the 43 year-old Turk who was sentenced for fatally stabbing his ex-wife, and the so-called Gry case. In the Gry case Gamal Hosein stood charged of having killed his wife Gry in January 2001. – The prosecutor argued that Gry had had an affair with Gamal’s nephew, and that the murder was connected to that relationship, Skjørten explains.

Similarities and Differences

All four media serials are about women who were brutally killed by men originally from abroad and within a close family relationship, Kristin Skjørten points out. And the press connect all four murders to a motive of honour. However, it was only the Fadime case that caused a debate about honour in Norwegian newspapers. In Skjørten’s opinion the Swedish debate was influenced by the fact that Fadime already was a national celebrity before she was killed, since she had explained in the media the threats she lived under. – But it was not until after she was killed that Fadime became a celebrity in Norway. So her celebrity status cannot explain the attention the case received here, Skjørten adds.

– There is, nevertheless, a clear difference between the Fadime case and these other cases where honour may be the motive. The Fadime case was about freedom to choose a spouse, whilst the three other cases are connected to infidelity and the wish to escape from marriage – or women who had escaped married life. What we must be seeing here is two different sides of a code of honour, not that this is problematized by any of the newspaper articles. And while the right to choose a partner is a universally accepted principle, infidelity and a woman’s right to end a relationship are perhaps not equally unproblematic.

When Skjørten looks at all the cases of violence and murder in the period she examined, many of them, it turns out, happened in connection with separation, or immediately after separation. –In these cases ethnicity is not thematized in the same way as it is in the Fadime case. And if we look at the backgrounds of the perpetrators we find many ethnic Norwegians, the researcher points out. In her opinion murder and violence committed in connection with separation is consequently not so easily explained by culture.

– It’s not my concern here whether the concept of “honour” should be introduced in other cases, emphasizes Kristin Skjørten. – Nevertheless, I want to show how the two newspapers presented murders and violence towards women in the period I was examining. And there I find that debates on honour are not prominent in the cases that deal with separation, while there was rather an intense debate on it after the Fadime killing.

Murder + suicide = family tragedy

One special type of case received very modest coverage during these four months in 2002. The newspapers characterize this type of case as family tragedies, and the police call them murder and self-murder. These are cases where the perpetrator first kills one or more members of his family before he takes his own life; such as the brief report in VG 29 January 2002, under the title “Familietragedie” (Family Tragedy): “The police now believe it is probable that it was a 23 year old man who first killed his 19 year old partner and then shot himself, on Sunday morning in Kvinnherad. – We do not think there is a unknown assailant, but that this is a family tragedy, said Police Inspector Trygve Ritland.”

In several of the cases that are designated as family tragedies children are involved. During the period 1999-2004, according to the police, 94 people within close relationships were killed in Norway. 19 were children, and eleven of these were killed by perpetrators who afterwards killed themselves. – This means that when children are killed by someone who is closely related to them, we are seeing a case where the perpetrator takes his own life, Skjørten says. This is often referred to as a family tragedy.

In Skjørten’s opinion the term ‘tragedy’ leads us to think of coincidences, misfortune and disaster. – Consequently, these events appear as phenomena not connected to more fundamental issues. The cases are lost in the newspaper columns as painful episodes without relevance to public debate. We gain no insight into what they were about, what motives the perpetrator had and whether anything could have been done to prevent what happened. More fundamental questions about human rights and an individual’s right to be protected against violence do not receive any mention in the newspapers’ coverage of family tragedies, says Skjørten. – And in such cases there is no court case afterwards, something that otherwise could give the public insight into the cases.

She connects the limited press coverage to the media’s be-cautious edict. This involves that the press, as a general rule, do not write about suicide. The point about suicide in the be-cautious edict has been thoroughly discussed within the press, something that has led to changes that take effect from the new year. The new point about suicide is as follows: “Be (especially) cautious in covering suicide and attempted suicide. Avoid coverage that is not necessary to satisfy the general public’s need for information. Avoid descriptions of methods or other conditions which can contribute to provoking further episodes of suicide”.

Debate can be Preventative

– My research shows that the coverage of violence and murder can be tainted by sensationalism, and in some instances the coverage of these cases even has an air of entertainment. As when VG wrote about the American woman who cut off her husband’s penis. However, we also see that coverage of cases involving murder can initiate important fundamental discussions – these deal either with conceptions of honour or on the security arrangements of the Police. Such discussions can lead to changes that have a preventative effect. It is therefore also important to follow how the press covers murder and violence within close relationships, and to look more closely at which cases lead to public debate, concludes Kristin Skjørten.

Translated by Matthew Whiting KILDEN