A day after 3 members of the same family were found guilty in an honour killing in Montreal, you would have a hard time finding anyone who disagreed with the verdict.
Mohammad Shafia, his son Hamed and his second wife Tooba Yahya have been convicted, by a Canadian jury, on four counts of first degree murder, in the deaths of Shafia's three teenage daughters, and his first wife in a polygamist marriage.
For the record, I think they got it right.
Now, I was not following the trial as closesly as some observers did; in fact there are some who believe that a book is in the works as several writers were in attendance for the full trial.
And that's where I have a problem with it.
While there is something to be said about the difference in cultures that resulted in the deaths of four vibrant individuals, it should be said that these deaths aren't the only ones that can be attributed to so-called honour.
Thousands of women are beaten, abused, emotionally attacked and even killed every year, because men feel that their honour is betrayed. In almost every case, women are attacked because they have challenged their partner in some way.
Whether it be turning down their sexual advances, or not fulfilling their partners unrealistic desires in other ways - it is always their misguided sense of honour that ends up being 'degraded,' which leads to the abuse.
Yet, we look at the Shafia murder trial as being an anomaly - a freak incident that allows us to look at a different culture, and find reason to hate it.
And to author a book about such a trial, makes us devalue the effect abuse has here at home. It's all around us. We don't need to buy the latest Harper and Collins offering to see it. Just look down your street.
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