“Honor” – An Increasing Threat Against Equality and Justice




Fadime Şahindal

On the 21st of January 2002, 17 years ago, Kurdish born Fadime Şahindal was fatally shot by her father. This “crime of honor” would be a turning point in Swedish politics and justice system as well as the people’s opinions. People finally got an eye-opener that the “culture of honor” existed in Sweden.

After graduating in 1996, Fadime met a Swedish man, Patrick Lindesjö, with whom she fell in love. They met in secret during the following year but were found out by her father as they were walking in the city in autumn of 1997. Fadime’s father and brother were furious and with the rest of the family they started threatening to kill her. As the brave girl she was, Fadime reported the crimes to the police, but no major punishment were given. Fadime moved away from Uppsala and started studying in the northern parts of Sweden.

However, the threats continued and Fadime’s brother was ordered to take her life. When she tried to speak with the authorities, they did not take her seriously, so she turned to the press. She later gave a speech in parliament about being an immigrant in Sweden, “honor” and her family situation.

This attention from the media only made her father and brother angrier. They forbade her to ever visit her hometown Uppsala again, but she simply could not stop seeing her mother and sisters, and secretly visited them. On one occasion, during one of these visits, her brother found her and knocked her out. The assault changed Fadime. Her beloved Patrick had passed away in a car accident shortly before. Her brother was given a five month prison sentence.

In 2002 Fadime was going to travel to Kenya as a part of her studies, and wanted to visit her mother and sister before she left. As Fadime was leaving her sister’s apartment the worst thing that could happen, happened. Her father was standing outside, holding a gun. He fired twice, and Fadime died instantly. Her father was sentences to life in prison, but was released in 2016. Fadime’s  was buried in Uppsala, close to her beloved Patrick.

This is an article from The Guardian in 2002: https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2002/jan/31/guardianweekly.guardianweekly1




Photo credits: Uppsala Kyrkogårdar

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