Discourses on Universalism and Cultural Relativism in Criminal Cases of Honour-Based Violence in Migration Context: Case of Germany

This presentation will be on the intersection of culture and law in cases of honour-based violence perpetrated by male immigrants against female immigrants from Türkiye living in Germany. Drawing on feminist thinker Susan Moller Okin’s work on the tension between feminism and multiculturalism, the study explores the debates surrounding cultural relativism and universalism of human rights, cultural defence, femicide, honour killing, and gender-based violence.

The research closely examines two cases of fatal gender-based violence against women with immigrant backgrounds from Türkiye in Germany. The analysis aims to understand how culture is invoked and elaborated in these cases. The study draws on different materials, an auto/biography and a case file, to explore the stories of these two women and the cultural contexts in which their experiences unfolded. Despite sharing similarities, the two cases differ in their outcomes: one woman was killed by her ex-husband, while the other survived a near-fatal attack.

In the case of Aylin Korkmaz, the victim survived her ex-husband’s attempt to murder her in November 2007. The perpetrator was sentenced to 13-years for his act. However, he was extradited to Türkiye in 2014 after he completed half of the sentence (6,5 years) based on Section 456a of the German Code of Criminal Procedure even though she conducted a campaign against the early release of the perpetrator. In the case of Zeynep (anonymous name), however, the victim was killed. Her ex-husband was sentenced to 7,5 years for manslaughter. The paper will analyze the reflections of culture in these cases.