Woman lawyer shut down

Seyran Ates is a Turkish-born lawyer who has lived in Germany most of her life. Her speciality has been to defend women from forced marriages and other degrading practices based on Muslim "honour" which take place in Europe. Sadly, she has been seriously threatened over the years and has determined that the German government will not step in to protect her life, so she has had to abandon her practice.

"I grew up in a Turkish family. My parents are Turkish. My father is Kurdish, my mother is Turkish, and I grew up in a very traditional family and I ran away when I was 17 years old because I can't stand this very hard traditional life and living in a very modern surrounding in Germany and living in a very traditional Turkish family was not so easy for me. So I grew up with this idea of women have to stay home, they have to marry someone some time and they get children and live very traditionally. You see, this is also the idea that also German people have all over the world, we have this traditional structure that women have to live in the house and men live outside the house."

Speaking in English, she said of honour killings and Muslim women in Germany: "And I think that more than 50 percent live in such a situation of fear of honor killings or to be killed. Many of my clients, I am working as a lawyer here in Berlin and I make family and criminal law, many of my clients, women, they say they are feared to divorce because their men say, "If you divorce, if you go to court to divorce, I will kill you."

"So we have a very high number who are very silent, who stay home and don't go out, don't ask for divorce, because they are in fear of being killed because of honor."

She has attacked Germany's bland acceptance of "multiculturalism", and has said that it keeps Muslim women in slavery, rather than forcing the Muslim community to adhere to the same standards as other people living in Germany.

Two points here: first, it is tragic that the foundations of Western Europe, which are based on the Judeo-Christian ethic of fundamental dignity and equality of the all men and women are being abandoned to this shallow and stifling concept; and secondly, I find it shameful that Christian women consider even lightly the idea that dress codes and women staying in the home are part and parcel of our faith. Modesty, dignity and decency must be combined with the God-given gift of free will in order that each person find his or her vocation in the wide constellation of possibilities.

Comments

[Tricia]

Genevieve you are absolutely brilliant. Brilliant as in a shining light to all of us. Thank you and may God continue to bless you.

[Pam]

Hi, Genevieve

I share your outrage about the violations of women's human rights described in this article above.

I was wondering if you could clarify more your point about Christian women at the end:

"secondly, I find it shameful that Christian women consider even lightly the idea that dress codes and women staying in the home are part and parcel of our faith. Modesty, dignity and decency must be combined with the God-given gift of free will in order that each person find his or her vocation in the wide constellation of possibilities. "

Which Christian women are claiming that dress codes and "women staying in the home" are "part and parcel of our faith"?

I am aware of some Christian modesty groups that go beyond what I feel is necessary, and I also know that you are historically a supporter of women who choose to be at-home mothers, though I get that you do not see this as the only valid choice for women and mothers.

Is there a strain of Christian women proposing something stricter than just embracing the choice to be mothers at home - something more akin to a Muslim practice of confining women strictly to the inside of the house (literally, not figuratively, as Linda Hirschman would have it)?

I think I agree with your point, but something in your phrasing of it made me react slightly negatively and I'm not sure why.

Are you talking about mainstream Catholic women advocating for these things? Women on the fringes, or women in more of a cult-like approach to Christianity?

Thanks!

[Stephanie]

I am not sure that I understand the Lawyer's statement about German people expecting a certain traditional structure? Most german women work outside of the home at least a few hours a week. I feel lucky to be able to stay at home with our 4 children.
Maybe the misunderstanding is a language problem here.
Pope Benedict has just encouraged more assimilation possibilities for german muslims. The CDU gov't is taking it seriously.

Stephanie in Germany

[gsk]

I think it is a language issue. I don't think she means who works or doesn't, but "traditional" means that the German people aren't upset that the Muslim women stay at home. They don't realise that they are there because of coercion, and that it's not really the same as the "traditional choice" that families used to make.

[Teresa]

Well, maybe some Germans do not realize there is coercion going on, and maybe some DO know, but adopt that, "Hey, it's their culture" attitude. I hear this sort of thing from Americans who give a yawn and shoulder shrug to thuggish behaviors exhibited by other Americans towards each other. "It's their culture" has been said about Italian mafias, Irish gangs, inner city black gangs and on and on. I don't accept that every Muslim family adopts sharia law any more than every Italian family adopts la costra nostra (or, whatever that mafia code is called). It seems to me, that it took the combined efforts of law enforcement and respective ethnic communities sick of the ne'erdowells within branding them all as thugs to break this.