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Friday, May 20, 2011

Muslim music artist and activist speaks out against honour killings

Norwegian born music producer and activist Deeyah, in association with friends, volunteers and supporters, starts an online place of remembrance for victims of honour killings.

Deeyah is a critically acclaimed singer, composer, music producer from Norway and a prize winning human rights activist. 

Born to immigrant parents of Pashtun and Punjabi descent, Deeyah encountered harassment throughout her music career and knows first-hand what it feels like to be threatened for stepping outside cultural ‘norms’.

Having worked within human rights for many years Deeyah is passionate about protesting against killings in the name of ‘honour’ – where young women are murdered for making decisions about their life including choice of marriage partner, education, divorce, clothing and the expression of sexuality:

"Today honour killings are seen across religious communities and are not limited to one group only. The oppression and violence against women in the name of honour, culture or religion is rife around the world in strictly patriarchal societies and communities. Honour killings take over 5000 lives a year. 

The perpetrators of these honour motivated crimes want all signs of the lives of these young women to be completely wiped out-- almost as if these young women never existed in the first place. Through MEMINI, we humbly hope to do our small part in acknowledging the existence of these women and honouring their memory". –Deeyah

MEMINI is an entirely volunteer driven initiative where wonderful individuals are helping by donating their time to help support this online place of remembrance. MEMINI is dedicated to keeping the memory of these women alive and we invite you to join us in our mission.

Please help spread the word about MEMINI.  We are always looking for writing and research volunteers, if you would like to join us, please email MEMINI.

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