Here’s a scary thought: roughly half of all murders in Turkey are honor killings. That’s roughly 200 cases of women being killed by family members for the “crime” of offending the family’s honor. What does that entail, exactly? Well, take the story of Medine Memi, a teenage girl who was buried alive by her father and grandfather for having male friends.

Media reports said the father had told relatives he was unhappy that his daughter – one of nine children – had male friends. The grandfather is said to have beaten her for having relations with the opposite sex.

A postmortem examination revealed large amounts of soil in her lungs and stomach, indicating that she had been alive and conscious while being buried.

The death was so brutal the whole country is actually in shock over this, even though there are plenty of other honor killings that go on (on average about 4 a week). The girl had tried to take refuge at the police station, claiming she was being beaten by both her father and grandfather, but this being the progressive country (cough) that it is, Turkish police returned her home on three separate occasions, proving there really is no safe place in the country for young women who fear being murdered by their own family members. I don’t foresee this barbaric practice ever ending in my lifetime, and that’s a depressing thought.