The opinions of Gazi University students about custom-honour killing

The research has been done descriptively in order to determine the opinions of Gazi University students about custom-honour killing. 326 students who are in the first class of Gazi University Faculty of Education and Faculty of Law constitute the sampling of the research. The data have been collected by a guestionnare form. The test of percentage calculation and Pearson Chi-Square has been used in the evaluation of the data. According to the research results, 63.2% of the participants were female and 36.8% were male. 59.8% of the participants are in the age group of 17-19. It has been ascertained that 75 % of the participants answered the expression ?honour is woman?s protecting her virginity until she is married? as ?I agree.? To the question ?how should one be haved a girl who has lost her virginity as a result of any reason?,? 10.7% of the students have given the answer, ?she should be married to the one she had sex with,? 74.5% have pointed out, ?she should not be punished at all, 14.8% have given the answer ?she should be punished?. It has been found out that to the question ?what do human beings live for?,? while for the 40.8 % of the males, the answer ?to protect his honour? is very important, this rate is 25% for the females. It has been found out that 71.5% of the students have given the answer ?no? to the proposition ?honour is human being?s living in accordance with social rules. The majority of the students (73.1%) have given the answer ?I agree? to the proposition ?honour means being honest in relationship? 56.7% of students stated that ?a male is responsible for the honour of the women closest to him.? 40.6% of the students have given the answer ?I don?t agree? to the proposition ?a woman must protect the honour of her husband.? 38.3 % of the students have given the answer ?I partly agree? to the proposition ?honour is the reason of life, without honour, life would have no meaning.? The participants answered the question ?why are custom-honour murders committed in Turkey?? basing it on reasons such as ignorance (28.8% of the participants), lack of education (23.3%), tradition-custom and social rules (34.3%), perception of honour and sensitivity to honour (8.4%). 8.4% of the students have stated that killing for honour is committed as a result of the requirements of customs. Hence, the required importance must be given to education. While the majority of the students have pointed out that they would not commit murder because of honour, only 3.4% of them have stated that they would.