BBC: A volunteer rescue operation in Germany has sheltered more than 100 Muslim women who fear they will be killed if they do not go through with marriages that their families have arranged for them.
I was unlocking my bicycle outside a shopping mall one afternoon when a group of teenage boys asked me in German if I knew how to break-dance.
I thought I was hearing things, so I said, "Excuse me?"
They repeated their question in typical slang, complete with Berlin dialect, saying they would be glad to show off their hip-hop moves, if I shared some steps of my own.
I laughed and replied that, while I do love dancing, my knees are not quite up to the acrobatic task of break-dance.
Once we got talking, though, I was in for a mental head-spin that would defy any choreography.
All but one of the boys - of Turkish, Kurdish and Palestinian origin - were born in Germany.
They wore jeans and T-shirts and their hair glistened with styling gel. One sported a gold earring.
With their playful jostling, they seemed like teenagers in any Western backdrop, except for one thing: they swore they would kill their own sisters if any of them had sex before marriage.
The boys were convinced that that would destroy their families' honour.
By coincidence, I had just attended a summit on the thorny subject of integration, where a female politician of Turkish descent had appealed for state support for a local organisation that rescues young women fleeing forced marriage, or the threat of an honour killing. 'Honour matters more' >>> By Alexa Dvorson, BBC News Germany
Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)
