Winter 2016 Philosopher's Cafe in Surrey: What is the “barbaric Cultural Practice”?

The Inclusive City Cafes will provide a safe and welcoming space for community members to discuss the challenges and opportunities of living in a diverse community and to start to explore how we can become a healthier and more inclusive City. The Café was initiated in the fall of 2015.
This series is a partnership between the Surrey Local Immigration Partnership, the City of Surrey, SFU Philosophers' Cafe, and the SFU Surrey - TD Community Engagement Center.
Conservatives recently made an attempt to create an RCMP tip line for Canadians to call if they believe a child or woman is a victim of “barbaric cultural practices" like honor killing. But such heinous crimes are already illegal in Canada; and we have the 9-1-1 line to make a report. The question here is: How do we define “barbaric”? Does getting drunk and beating wife/ children fall under the same category? Do you think such a policy is targeted towards specific ethno- religious group?
Moderator's Bio: Somayeh is a PhD student in the Department of Gender, Sexuality, & Women’s Studies at Simon Fraser University. She received her BA in Psychology and Women's studies and her Masters in GSWS from Simon Fraser University. Her research is focused on the history of colonization, settlement, immigration, & citizenship in Canada; transnational migration and globalization; and Canada’s political economy and the labor market.
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