Honor? Or protecting the perpetrator?

Mona Eltahawy is a columnist reporting on issues in the Arab world, including those effecting women. This is a fascinating article about domestic violence and the pressure to protect the honor of "community" over protecting women.
The sister we missed
MONA ELTAHAWY

From Tuesday's Globe and Mail

KUALA LUMPUR — Aasiya Hassan was probably beheaded in a Buffalo suburb just hours before the Malaysian Muslim women's group Sisters in Islam brought us together this month for the launch of Musawah, a global movement for justice and equality in Muslim families. Justice and equality were likely in short shrift for Ms. Hassan, who had filed for divorce and obtained a restraining order against her husband a week before police found her body.

And from March 5, 2009 in The Daily Beast, which has relevance for all cultures, and all women and children dealing with domestic abuse...

While preserving privacy, Malik’s wife, Sarwat Malik, a physician who also knew about Muzzammil Hassan’s history of domestic violence, says that this dynamic comes with a high socio-psychological cost: “Everyone is suffering in silos. This should change. Women are battered in all cultures, and the common factor is the social sanction of violence against women. As a community, we must bear a collective responsibility of keeping everyone safe. It cannot be done by a few organizations. It must be done by all, working together. We need to make it a whole community affair. Everyone must speak out that violence will not be tolerated.”
http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-02-23/deadly-family-secrets/3/