Like many forms of modern technology, mobile phones can be both a useful tool and an unwieldy new weapon. The recording feature on mobile phones is a novelty which has yet to wear off. Just last summer, an Australian man was arrested for piracy after he recorded a whole film at the cinema with his. On the positive side, it has led to a crackdown on police violence and other crimes which can now be recorded at the push of a button. The threat of being so easily and imperceptibly caught on film can act as a deterrent.
But there is a deadly flipside to this technological advance as confirmed by recent reports from Iraqi Kurdistan. The rising number of honour killings in that area have been tracked by the international media, particularly since the stoning to death of Du'a Khalil Aswad in April 2007. A new dimension to this ongoing injustice is the use of mobile phones to record the ‘inappropriate' acts of women and thus provide ammunition for their families or local communities to punish them. A report last week by Amanj Khalil of IWPR cites cases of conversations about sex or even sexual activity being filmed by boyfriends or others, and subsequently being widely circulated. This is to the detriment not only of the women's reputations, but also their physical and mental health, and in the worst cases, their lives.
Whatever the shame that a family feels in public about the honour of its daughter, niece or sister, this apparent new trend is a serious violation of privacy and one which is as worrying for future developments as it is deadly for those who have experienced it. Women and men alike should not have to live with the prospect of their private activities being put on public display. It is not a matter of class, education or religion, but one of changing basic attitudes towards personal privacy and how such material should be used.
The main issue here is not mobile phones or even technology; these are just the latest weapons. While Kurdistan is seen as one of the most progressive regions of Iraq and MPs are even debating a law to protect women from so-called mobile phone abuse, this new development is simply another sign of how far things can go if perpetrators of honour killings are not properly punished. And it is Iraqi culture, not Sharia law that is to blame for not acknowledging honour killings as murders. Until that is the case, making this mobile phone abuse illegal will not stop the killings. Only a change in attitudes will allow young women to live their private lives without fear of public shame and its consequences (by whatever means that occurs).
