A help line, not a ‘snitch line’

Re: Letter to the Editor: Trudeau’s Canada beats Harper’s, Jan. 13.

Your letter writer is mistaken contending that the Stephen Harper Conservatives proposed a “snitch line” for reporting “barbaric cultural practices.” What has too often erroneously been called a “snitch line” was in fact intended as a help line for immigrant women and families. Some immigrant women’s groups had been requesting this for years. The announcement of the hotline was coupled with funding for addressing other dangerous situations for women — such as the proliferation of Boko Haram in West Africa. This was rarely mentioned in the media.

Although we hope that practices such as honour killing, forced marriages and female genital mutilation do not happen in Canada, unfortunately we know that they sometimes do. When a woman (or family) is threatened by something like this, they have little recourse. Such practices are illegal, but it is sometimes painful for families to turn to the police. I would guess that many would be too frightened. Might the plight of the Shafia family (in which two adults and a son were convicted of murdering several female family members in an “honour killing” in Kingston) have had a different outcome had the son, Hamid, had any source of outside support with the potential for an intervention? We will never know.

While many people are offended by the expression “barbaric cultural practices,” the term was adopted to communicate to newcomers — some from very different backgrounds — the seriousness of the issue. Some practices associated with old-world cultures are unacceptable in Canada. In this context, I believe the world “barbaric” is entirely appropriate. Linda Stilborne, Kanata