Aysan Sev'er

Culture of Honor, Culture of Change A Feminist Analysis of Honor Killings in Rural Turkey

This article presents a feminist analysis of honor killings in rural Turkey. One of the main goals is to dissociate honor killings from a particular religious belief system and locate it on a continuum of patriarchal patterns of violence against women. The authors first provide a summary of the defining characteristics of honor killings and discuss the circumstances under which they are likely to occur. Second, they discuss modernization versus traditionalism in Turkey, emphasizing the contradictory forces in a culture of change. Third, they discuss conflict orientations in understanding violence against women, starting from some of the assertions and assumptions of the Marx/Engels hypothesis and socialist feminism, and comparing and contrasting the radical feminist orientation with the materialist orientation. Fourth, the authors give examples of honor killings in Turkey that have been recorded in recent years, specifically highlighting the common threads among these heinous crimes. The patterns observed are more supportive of the radical and socialist feminist orientations than the Marx/Engels hypothesis. The article ends with modest suggestions about breaking the cycle of violence against women, emphasizing the personal, social, structural, and global links in engendering positive change.

Recent or Imminent Separation and Intimate Violence Against Women A Conceptual Overview and Some Canadian Examples

The focus of this article is the link between recent or imminent separation and violence against female partners. First, various bodies of literature are reviewed to establish the fact that separation heightens the risk of violence. Second, the conceptual contributions of social learning and power and control theories are presented as they pertain to intimate violence against women. Third, an expanded version of the power-and-control model is used to underscore the violence proneness of separations, especially when the separations are initiated by women. To illustrate the expanded model, numerous Canadian examples are provided, drawn from interviews with divorced women, survivors of intimate violence, and news media reports. Finally, different strategies to break the cycle of violence, ranging from changing gendered attitudes and behavior to those that focus on incremental ways to reclaim ones freedom, are summarized.

In Who's Interest? Levirat and Sororat Marriages in Southeastern Turkey

Sororat refers to a mans marriage to his deceased wifes sister, and levirat refers to a womans marriage to her brother-in-law after the death of her husband. This article explores the gendered reactions to tensions and role confusion in these marriages. Forty-five people who were either currently living, or have recently lived in levirat and sororat marriages were interviewed. We observed that family and kin seem to be equally persistent on formulating levirat or sororat types of marriages for widows and widowers. However, men had an ultimate veto power over these arrangements and women did not. Moreover, tensions on women, especially in terms of establishing sexual intimacy with their new partners were traumatic. We argue that material considerations play a primary role on the continuation of these marriages, despite the problems these marriages entail, especially for women.