A profound and thought-provoking work

books:


	• Reclaiming Honor in Jordan: A National Public Opinion Survey on "Honor" Killings Ellen R. Sheeley Black Iris Publishing, 2007 - 133 pages average customer review:based on 7 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

In the Name of the Father...

One can only hope that Ellen R. Sheeley's must-read will assist in raising the consciousness of humankind. Ms. Sheeley's marketing expertise clearly reveals the urgent need for change in an oppressed culture that shamelessly murders their innocent under the archaic guise of "honor." The reader cringes at the statistics of these incomprehensible acts committed by fathers, brothers and cousins seeking revenge.

I applaud her sincere devotion to bring these heinous crimes to the forefront. May the tragically forgotten victims cease being ignored by a societal indifference that so blatantly devalues females - inclusive of children, adolescents and women.

Jane Spellman
San Francisco, CA

Reclaiming Honor in Jordan: A National Public Opinion Survey on "Honor" Killings

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Welcome light on a dark subject

To hell with cultural relativism! The murder of innocent women to appease some family's notion of "honor' should be a crime in any language. The United Nations estimates there are about 5000 "honor' killings around the world each year, mostly in Islamic countries, mostly of women. Yet there is no NGO anywhere in the world dedicated to eradicating honor crimes, nor even comprehensive statistical information about them. In this brave and important book, Ellen R Sheeley, using her own time and money and marketing expertise, undertook a national public opinion survey in one country, Jordan, to provide the empirical and objective data on public attitudes that is essential to any effective campaign designed to change hearts and minds. This clearly-written and compelling account should be read by anyone concerned with injustices and abuses of human rights. "

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Where's the Outrage?

I wholeheartedly concur with the previous reviewers, particularly the articulate E. St. Aubyn.

Having lived as an expat in Jordan for quite some time, I can only marvel at and applaud Ms. Sheeley's courage, forbearance, and generosity of heart and of pocketbook in undertaking the research and the work that led to the publication of this book. She would've faced almost unbearable scrutiny, countless obstacles that would've sent lesser mortals fleeing for the border, and likely even some active interference by the powers that be, who seem to lack any true interest in substantively addressing their honor killing problem. It would be difficult to overstate the challenges, and that is why I consider the release of this book heroic. May it become "the little book that could." Mabrouk, Ms. Sheeley! Well done!

Now that there are some facts at hand--rigorously and scientifically gathered by someone who is well qualified, highly accomplished, and wholly unaligned with any regime, any corporation, or any NGO--why has there been no movement on the ground? Ms. Sheeley has paved and led the way. In the year since this book was published, what possible excuse is there for doing nothing? I, for one, do not understand the apathy, the complacency, and the lack of regard for human life. The dishonor of these crimes extends not only to the killers, but to each and every person in Jordan who knows what is going on in their midst and shamefully, stubbornly refuses to act to ameliorate the suffering out of arrogance, false pride, "not invented here" syndrome, pretentiousness, selfishness, or any of the other misguided, hard-headed qualities prevalent in Jordan.

What kind of society sets the performance bar this low? Where is the outrage? More importantly, what will it take to motivate people to act in ways that meaningfully address this stain on the culture?

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An Important Piece of Work...

So begins the arduous task of reviewing this unique item. Arduous because, as a Jordanian, it burdens my heart that this book even needs to exist (it does). Arduous because it shook me that the subject was studied at this level of detail by a non-Jordanian. But...perhaps an integral factor in the equation of bringing this book into existence is that the writer has to be an outsider. Jordanian journalists from within have been trying to know themselves and know their society by exposing it's shadow...but anybody, is welcome to tackle the shadow.

Ellen R. Sheeley, being an American who -devotedly- dove right in to a foreign society to try to dig up info about this taboo issue may be an outsider, but that's what may have helped her keep cool enough of a head to compile the data needed to publish such a work.

I applaud her for being able to withstand the hardships of the process of publishing and marketing this type of book. I know some of what she has had to endure, and I only hope that her endeavours will be recognized by people who will thence take action upon eradicating these dis-honorable crimes.

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A profound and thought-provoking work

This was a hard book for me to read, but it's something that everyone, especially women, should know about. Ellen Sheeley, at her own expense and very real personal risk, has undertaken to systematically expose both these crimes and the apathy that seems to pervade Jordanians when it comes to acknowledging and punishing these honor killings. A 'must-read' for anyone who cares about human rights.

reviews: page 1, 2

In early 2003, Ellen R. Sheeley began to educate herself about "honor" killings, particularly those that take place in Jordan. That summer she journeyed from her home in San Francisco, California, USA to Amman, Jordan, where she learned of the needs for empirical, objective, baseline data pertaining to the Jordanian public's attitudes, opinions, and beliefs about "honor" killings and for a sustained marketing campaign to change hearts and minds. As a seasoned marketing professional, she was confident she had the ability and the qualifications to fulfill these needs. Unable to secure funding or sponsorship from the obvious and even the not-so-obvious sources and, yet, unwilling for mere lack of financial support to give up on the needs of the at-risk individuals and the victims, she quit her job, moved from her home, placed her personal effects in storage, bade adieu to her loved ones, and returned to Amman in October 2005 to perform the work pro bono, funded by her private savings. "Reclaiming Honor in Jordan" is a result of this effort and reveals a number of surprising findings about public opinion on this subject. Profits from this book will contribute to "honor" killings work.

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