The notion of honor killings being culturally entrenched has been reaffirmed by the recent murder of a young woman in Italy:

A Moroccan man is facing murder charges after allegedly stabbing his 18-year-old daughter to death for falling in love with an older man in a small northern Italian town.

Sanaa Dafani was stabbed in the throat while she was sitting in a car with her 31-year-old boyfriend in Montereale Valcellina, northwest of Trieste, late Tuesday.

According to media reports, the victim’s father blocked the car and threatened his daughter. Her boyfriend Massimo De Biasio tried to protect her from the attack and was injured in an alleged assault from the father.

De Biasio raised the alarm and was then taken to a local hospital in Pordenone where he underwent surgery for minor injuries to his abdomen and his hands. [Source]

It is not the first honor killing to be enacted in the Islamic community of Italy.

In 2006, 20-year-old Hina Saleem was killed by male relatives for ‘dishonouring the family’ by living with an Italian man, wearing jeans and working in a pizzeria.

Originally from Pakistan, Hina’s father, Mohammad, confessed to the killing and along with two male relatives received a sentence of 30 years.

Following the case a debate ensued in which the centre left government issued a ‘charter of values’ for immigrants.

Presumably, it was hoped that a document outlining European ‘morals’ would eliminate the draconian slaughter of innocent female relatives.

So far, so ineffective.

Honor killings are a pandemic: if legal and government initiatives cannot cease the phenomenon, one wonders what will.