Naëm Bestandji is a writer. A committed feminist and secularist, he is the author of a remarkable essay, Le linceul du féminisme-Caresser l'islamisme dans le sens du voile (Éditions Séramis, 2021).
FIGAROVOX. - The trial for the murder of Shaïna, stabbed to death and burned alive in Creil in 2019 at the age of 15, opened in Beauvais on Monday, June 5. What is this assassination called?
Naëm BESTANDJI. - "Barbarity". I don't see any other name. The barbarity of a young man who stabbed and then burned alive a young girl imagining that he had saved her honor as a respectable man. The barbarity of his friends who still defend him and intimidate those who want to break the omerta. The barbarity of this omerta that plays on fear. The barbarity of a dark aspect of the culture of a part of the working-class neighborhoods which, believing to defend "respect", only expresses what is most monstrous in the human being.
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Is this an additional symptom of the process of "decivilization" at work in our country as President Emmanuel Macron has said?
The term 'decivilization' has two meanings: the first refers to "the westernization of the world, the cultural standardization following the destruction by the West of the daily life of non-European groups. It is a Western crime against non-Western cultures" (Robert Jaulin, ethnologist, 1974).
The second meaning, the one given to it by the President of the Republic, designates the opposite of "civilization" to show a societal regression by an ever more violent violence. Islamist attacks, violence during the crisis of the "yellow vests", that of the activists of the black blocs, against elected officials of the Republic, school bullying that pushes victims to suicide, the assault of an 8-year-old child with cancer because his only mistake was not to support the right football team, The increase in the settling of scores against a background of drug trafficking, etc., are all indicators that show an increase in brutality in our society. Working-class neighborhoods are no exception. This is even exacerbated. Women are the main victims.
One of the pretexts for the attack was a rumor in the city that made Shaina an "easy girl". What does this expression say about the place of women and sexuality in cities?
This expression is not exclusive to cities. It exists everywhere. Its masculine version does not exist anywhere. "Easy Girl" is one of the most beautiful illustrations of macho and patriarchal culture. The cursor and the consequences are pushed further into the cities. The man would have natural needs to satisfy, the woman should have desires only for her (future) husband. If she dares to have sexual activity like boys, or even just make love with the man she loves but out of wedlock, she will be accused of "giving herself easily". For patriarchy, the man "takes" the virginity of his partner, the woman "gives" it. Again, this is exacerbated in working-class neighborhoods. The case of Shaïna's reputation is unfortunately frequent.
A woman's virginity is not measured by the state of her hymen. It is measured by the reputation of its owner.
Naëm Bestandji
Is the representation of the male-female relationship different? What about the relationship to honor?
This representation is different because it is several decades or even centuries out of step with the rest of French society. In the cities, the myth of virginity is deeply rooted. The young woman must "preserve" herself for marriage. Since the ability to physically verify virginity is only a myth, its only possible existence is social. A woman's virginity is not measured by the state of her hymen. It is measured by the reputation of its owner. This mentality is a legacy imported from the countries of origin of their parents or grandparents. A heritage that mixes culture and religion. In addition, there are aspects specific to cities that are consequences facilitated by ethnic, social and urban ghettoization. This is assimilated by boys but also girls. The latter are sometimes harder than boys with other girls.
The young man accused of the murder reportedly claimed to have killed Shaïna in particular because he is Muslim and he did not want his mother to learn that he had impregnated "a whore". However, Islam obviously does not allow to burn anyone, nor to kill because a girl is pregnant by a man who is not her husband. Islam is just a pretext to justify misogyny. The Qur'an imposes prenuptial chastity for both women and men. In cultural practice, men are exempted from it. Religion also forbids adultery for both sexes. In cultural practice, men are excused and women strongly condemned. Being a victim of a bad reputation is the anguish of many young women and adolescent girls. It is also the obsession of many brothers who watch over their sisters. In patriarchal culture, family reputation is carried by girls. Once the label of "whore" and "slut" is applied, it is almost impossible to remove. This can even be amplified with the circulation of new rumors. Boys, attracted by the "easy welcome" of the person concerned, will try to sleep with her. Girls will try to ostracize her. From then on, she will be held responsible for everything that happens to her. Even today, people defend the accused by blaming Shaïna.
The lack of diversity and education, sexual frustration and taboos, the valorization of virility for men and "modesty" for women largely explain the phenomenon.
Naëm Bestandji
Shaina's older brother, Yasin Hansye, said of her sister's boyfriend that "he considers her a thing." Where does this desire to reify young girls come from?
Once the bad reputation is established, the woman leaves the field of respectability to enter that of sexual object. Shaina's boyfriend, now accused of her murder, admitted to approaching her solely because of his reputation, out of a desire to sleep easily with her. The lack of diversity and education, sexual frustration and taboos, the valorization of virility for men and "modesty" for women largely explain the phenomenon. This is not new. In the 1990s, I witnessed rumors about girls in my neighborhood. It was also at this time that I first heard the pejorative term "turning", which is none other than gang rape. For the sexual crimes of which Shaïna was a victim, it is reminiscent of the case of Samira Bellil, a teenager from a working-class neighborhood shattered by multiple individual and gang rapes in the 1990s. In 2002, she published a book, "Dans l'enfer des tournantes", to tell her story because she was not an isolated case. She will participate in the creation of the movement Ni Putes Ni Soumises. She died of cancer on September 4, 2004. Some said that her body had somatized all the physical and psychological violence she had suffered. For the assassination of Shaïna, it is reminiscent of that of Sohane Benziane. She was burned alive in October 2002, not in a shed but in a garbage room in Vitry-sur-Seine. She was not murdered by her boyfriend. She died just because she is a woman, the "property" of another who was in conflict with the one who will be her executioner. Sohane Benziane became a symbol, especially during the creation of the movement Ni Putes Ni Soumises. The rapes and murder of Shaïna are therefore not mere miscellaneous. This is a fact of society far from being new.
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The attack was filmed and then broadcast on social networks. However, do the networks really amplify this violence?
Yes. Her ex-boyfriend had forced him to take nude pictures of her. She was only 13 years old. The threat of their dissemination was used as a means of pressure to force Shaïna to have sex, up to the point of gang rape. This rape was filmed and broadcast. From this day forward, the reputation of "easy girl" will be indelible. This will help pave the way for his assassination. Rumours and harassment are no longer limited to the outside. Through social networks, they penetrate your home, your room, your bed, thanks to your smartphone. Social networks therefore contribute in their own way to the amplification of violence. The images shared thousands of times trivialize and excuse sexual violence where the victim is perceived as consenting. "There is no smoke without fire" is an ignoble archaic expression that, today, has never been so strongly thought.
