2007年VOA标准英语-Kurds Speak Out Against Honor Killing of Women

By Brian Padden
Irbil
13 September 2007
 

The Kurdish region of Iraq is still coming to terms with the cultural and political ramifications¹ of the brutal² honor killing³ of a 17-year-old Yazidi girl in April.  Men in her village killed the girl because she was in love with a Muslim boy.  A video of the killing helped fuel public outrage⁴ after it appeared on the Internet.  Human rights groups say so-called honor killings⁵ in Iraq are all too common and not limited to any one religious sect⁶.  VOA's Brian Padden reports on how one group is using the controversy⁷ in an attempt to educate the public and change the culture.

Honor killings, poster

An outdoor art exhibit in the Kurdish city of Irbil displays the instruments typically used in honor killings.  These are acts in which women are killed by their husbands or other men in the community for perceived moral transgressions⁸.  There is a knife like the one used by a man who reportedly stabbed his 19-year-old sister, a kerosene⁹ stove that activists¹⁰ say is often used to burn women to death and cinder¹¹ blocks like those used in the most infamous¹² honor killing in the Kurdish region of Iraq.  

In April, men from the Yazidi sect, a religious minority in Northern Iraq, used cell phone cameras to record the killing of Do'a Khalil.  The footage that appeared on the Internet shows men crushing her skull¹³ with cinder blocks. The scenes are too graphic¹⁴ for VOA to broadcast.  

The art exhibit organizer Chilura Hardi is trying to sustain the public outrage that followed Do'a Khalil's death and change a culture that condones¹⁶ violence against women.  "It's OK to raise awareness¹⁷ about it.  Why these things are happening in the past? This is a different day and maybe we should look at changing these kinds of things."

Chilura Hardi, organizer

Chilura Hardi heads a Kurdish women's center in Irbil.  She says the problem of honor killings permeates¹⁸ all ethnic¹⁹ and religious groups in Iraq.  Her organization produces a magazine and operates a call-in radio station by and for women that tries to raise awareness about these issues.  But she says reaching Muslim men is more challenging. 

She is quite critical of what she calls uneducated mullahs who blame women for the problems in society.  "It is always women, women, women.  And who's listening to all these talks that the mullahs are giving?  [They] are men on Fridays.  They go to Friday prayer and they are listening to this."

Imam Basher Al Hadad of the Jelil Hayat Mosque²⁰ in Irbil says he cannot speak for all the mullahs, but he says the Koran does not condone¹⁵ honor killings. 

"Women are human and killing humans without any just reason is forbidden.  So killing women is also forbidden.  You mustn't do it."

At the art exhibit Chilura Hardi says she is encouraged by comments she hears from some of the men in attendance. "Any man who sees this will be changed.

The honor killing is starting from the communities.  So starting from the children, we have to learn them there is no difference between female and male."

Ultimately, Hardi says to end the practice of honor killing, leaders must speak out, laws must be enforced and attitudes towards women on every level of society must change.   

1 ramifications   

n.结果，后果( ramification的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• These changes are bound to have widespread social ramifications. 这些变化注定会造成许多难以预料的社会后果。
• What are the ramifications of our decision to join the union? 我们决定加入工会会引起哪些后果呢？ 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 brutal   

adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的

参考例句：

• She has to face the brutal reality.她不得不去面对冷酷的现实。
• They're brutal people behind their civilised veneer.他们表面上温文有礼，骨子里却是野蛮残忍。

3 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

4 outrage   

n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒

参考例句：

• When he heard the news he reacted with a sense of outrage.他得悉此事时义愤填膺。
• We should never forget the outrage committed by the Japanese invaders.我们永远都不应该忘记日本侵略者犯下的暴行。

5 killings   

谋杀( killing的名词复数 )； 突然发大财，暴发

参考例句：

• His statement was seen as an allusion to the recent drug-related killings. 他的声明被视为暗指最近与毒品有关的多起凶杀案。
• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。

6 sect   

n.派别，宗教，学派，派系

参考例句：

• When he was sixteen he joined a religious sect.他16岁的时候加入了一个宗教教派。
• Each religious sect in the town had its own church.该城每一个宗教教派都有自己的教堂。

7 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

8 transgressions   

n.违反，违法，罪过( transgression的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Many marine transgressions occur across coastal plains. 许多海运是横越滨海平原。 来自辞典例句
• For I know my transgressions, and my sin always before me. 因为我知道我的过犯，我的罪常在我面前。 来自互联网

9 kerosene   

n.(kerosine)煤油，火油

参考例句：

• It is like putting out a fire with kerosene.这就像用煤油灭火。
• Instead of electricity,there were kerosene lanterns.没有电，有煤油灯。

10 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 cinder   

n.余烬，矿渣

参考例句：

• The new technology for the preparation of superfine ferric oxide from pyrite cinder is studied.研究了用硫铁矿烧渣为原料，制取超细氧化铁红的新工艺。
• The cinder contains useful iron,down from producing sulphuric acid by contact process.接触法制硫酸的矿渣中含有铁矿。

12 infamous   

adj.声名狼藉的，臭名昭著的，邪恶的

参考例句：

• He was infamous for his anti-feminist attitudes.他因反对女性主义而声名狼藉。
• I was shocked by her infamous behaviour.她的无耻行径令我震惊。

13 skull   

n.头骨；颅骨

参考例句：

• The skull bones fuse between the ages of fifteen and twenty-five.头骨在15至25岁之间长合。
• He fell out of the window and cracked his skull.他从窗子摔了出去，跌裂了颅骨。

14 graphic   

adj.生动的，形象的，绘画的，文字的，图表的

参考例句：

• The book gave a graphic description of the war.这本书生动地描述了战争的情况。
• Distinguish important text items in lists with graphic icons.用图标来区分重要的文本项。

15 condone   

v.宽恕；原谅

参考例句：

• I cannot condone the use of violence.我不能宽恕使用暴力的行为。
• I will not condone a course of action that will lead us to war.我绝不允许任何导致战争的行为。

16 condones   

v.容忍，宽恕，原谅( condone的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• A morality that condones such bloodshed is totally unacceptalbe to me. 宽恕这种杀戮的道德是我完全不能接受的。 来自辞典例句
• When government condones evil, he insists, "the true place for a just man is a prison." 他坚持认为，当政府宽容罪恶时，“正直人的真正去处是监狱”。 来自哲学部分

17 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。

18 permeates   

弥漫( permeate的第三人称单数 )； 遍布； 渗入； 渗透

参考例句：

• Studies show that water vapor quickly permeates plastic packaging material. 研究证明水蒸汽能迅速渗入塑料封装材料。
• Democracy permeates the whole country. 民主主义（的思想）普及全国。

19 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

20 mosque   

n.清真寺

参考例句：

• The mosque is a activity site and culture center of Muslim religion.清真寺为穆斯林宗教活动场所和文化中心。
• Some years ago the clock in the tower of the mosque got out of order.几年前，清真寺钟楼里的大钟失灵了。