The Shafia trial, now mercifully over, has been an “Ecole Polytechnique” moment for many Canadian Muslims. A shocking wake-up call to the ugly reality of family violence rooted in the need to control women – ostensibly for the sake of family “honour”. Horrific details of dysfunction within the Shafia family, culminating with the murder of four women – have shaken many out of complacency.
Mind you, those working in the field of social services, have known all too well about the breadth and depth of family dysfunction. Their voices, their pleadings have been largely ignored, as community leaders have been more interested in building grandiose mosques, than dealing with social illnesses within the community. During media coverage of the Aqsa Parvez murder, traditional institutions, for the most part, stuck their collective heads in the sand, pointed to domestic violence elsewhere, and blamed the media for biased coverage. Those who wanted to do something, anything, to address the issue, realized they had to bypass those who refused to open their eyes.
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