Honor killing
The term "honor killing", also called a shame killing, refers to murder that is committed, typically by members of the victim's family, with the motivation of preserving or recovering the "honor" that the victim is perceived as having violated or lost as a result of their actions, which may be a source of shame in their society. Most cases of honor killings involve femicide, and they are likewise a frequent manifestation of violence against women in regions of the world where there are traditional or legal norms that greatly restrict women's rights and freedoms.
Although these murders are condemned by international conventions, including by legally binding documents like the Istanbul Convention, and by human rights organizations globally, they remain widespread and several religious and cultural communities continue to justify and encourage them in areas where they exercise influence. Historically, families who refuse or fail to commit honor killings are usually accused of cowardice or a "moral defect" and stigmatized by the religious or cultural community to which they belong, thereby inheriting the social rejection and social exclusion that had previously only applied to the victim at the onset of the controversy. While the behaviours and actions that lead to situations of honor killings can vary by the established societal norms of a region, they are most often choices of an intimate nature, such as being in a romantic relationship outside of marriage; refusing to enter into an arranged or forced marriage; seeking a divorce or marital separation; or engaging in premarital, extramarital, or postmarital sex. However, several non-intimate personal choices may result in honor killings as well, such as converting to another religion; being friends with someone who does not belong to the same race, ethnicity, religion, or culture; not taking care to avoid associating with the opposite sex; or dressing in a way that is regarded as diverging from sexual norm in the community. Furthermore, it is also common for people to be targeted for honor killings if they become victims of rape or sexual assault; or simply because of their inherent state of being, such as having a disability or not identifying as heterosexual.
Conformity to certain moral standards in a community normally implies different behavior for men and women, particularly with regard to stricter standards for women's sexual freedoms. In many families, the "family honor" motive is used by men as a pretext to enforce the restriction of women's rights, and honor killings are performed in communities with the intent to punish violations of social, sexual, religious, or general familial norms or hierarchies. This type of violence is prominent in many patriarchal societies, where both men and women can be either perpetrators or victims in the event of an actual or perceived divergence from societal norms.
Honor killings are primarily associated with the Middle East and North Africa and South Asia, but they are also present in a number of other regions, such as the Philippines, Caucasus, Latin America, East Africa, and historically in Mediterranean Europe. Accordingly, they are also prevalent in the respective diasporas of groups in countries that do not otherwise have societal norms that encourage honor killings. Honor killings are often associated with rural and tribal areas, but they occur in urban areas as well.
Definitions
defines "honor killings" as follows:Honor crimes are acts of violence, usually murder, committed by male family members against female family members who are perceived to have brought dishonor upon the family. A woman can be targeted by her family for a variety of reasons including, refusing to enter into an arranged marriage, being the victim of a sexual assault, seeking a divorce—even from an abusive husband—or committing adultery. The mere perception that a woman has acted in a manner to bring "dishonor" to the family is sufficient to trigger an attack.
Men can also be the victims of honor killings, either committed by members of the family of a woman with whom they are perceived to have an inappropriate relationship; or by the members of their own families, the latter often connected to homosexuality or disability diagnosis.
General characteristics
Many honor killings are planned by multiple members of a family, sometimes through a formal "family council". The threat of murder is used as a means to control behavior, especially concerning sexuality and marriage, which may be seen as a duty for some or all family members to uphold. Family members may feel compelled to act to preserve the reputation of the family in the community and avoid stigma or shunning, particularly in tight-knit communities. Perpetrators often do not face negative stigma within their communities, because their behavior is seen as justified.Extent
Reliable figures of honor killings are hard to obtain, in large part because "honor" is either improperly defined or is defined in ways other than in Article 12 of the UDHR without a clear follow-up explanation. As a result, criteria are hardly ever given for objectively determining whether a given case is an instance of honor killing. Because of the lack of both a clear definition of "honor" and coherent criteria, it is often presupposed that more women than men are victims of honor killings, and victim counts often contain women exclusively.Honor killings occur in many parts of the world, but are most widely reported in the Middle East, South Asia and North Africa. Historically, honor killings were also common in Southern Europe, until relatively recently. Generational family feuds resulting in murders continue to take place in Sardinia in the 21st century.
In French culture, stories about such homicides were romanticized and featured prominently in French literature of the 19th century, and "In literature as in life, unconventional women needed to be severely punished lest their defiant attitudes inspire further acts of rebellion". In Corsica, there was a strong custom of vendetta, which required Corsicans to murder anyone who wronged their family honor. Between 1821 and 1852 approximately 4,300 vendetta killings were perpetrated in Corsica. France also had a strong culture of dueling meant to uphold honor, and France was called by the National Geographic "the dueling capital of Europe".
Honor is a common theme in classical Spanish literature, being an integral part of the traditional Spanish culture; one of the most well known Spanish literary works dealing with the concept of honor is El médico de su honra by Pedro Calderón de la Barca. The short story The Point of Honour by English writer W. Somerset Maugham makes reference to El médico de su honra and discusses the role of honor in Spanish society at the end of the 19th century. The concept of honor was studied extensively by anthropologists from the Mediterranean culture, where women's chastity played a major role in those cultures of honor.
Methods
Methods of murdering include stoning, stabbing, beating, burning, beheading, hanging, throat slashing, lethal acid attacks, shooting, and strangulation. Sometimes, communities perform murders in public to warn others in the community of the possible consequences of engaging in what is seen as illicit behavior.Use of minors as perpetrators
Often, minor girls and boys are selected by the family to act as the murderers, so that the murderer may benefit from the most favorable legal outcome. Boys and sometimes women in the family are often asked to closely control and monitor the behavior of their siblings or other members of the family, to ensure that they do not do anything to tarnish the 'honor' and 'reputation' of the family. The boys are often asked to carry out the murder, and if they refuse, they may face serious repercussions from the family and community for failing to perform their "duty".Culture
The cultural features that lead to honor killings are complex. Honor killings involve violence and fear as tools for maintaining control. Honor killings are argued to have their origins among nomadic peoples and herdsmen: such populations carry all their valuables with them and risk having them stolen, and they do not have proper recourse to law. As a result, inspiring fear, using aggression, and cultivating a reputation for violent revenge to protect property is preferable to other behaviors. In societies where there is a weak rule of law, people must build fierce reputations.In many cultures where honor is of a central value, men are sources, or active generators/agents, of that honor, while the only effect that women can have on honor is to destroy it. Once the family's or clan's honor is considered to have been destroyed by a woman, there is a need for immediate revenge to restore it, for the family to avoid losing face in the community. An Amnesty International statement notes:
The relation between social views on female sexuality and honor killings are complex. The way through which women in honor-based societies are considered to bring dishonor to men is often through their sexual behavior. Indeed, violence related to female sexual expression has been documented since Ancient Rome, when the pater familias had the right to murder an unmarried sexually active daughter or an adulterous wife. In medieval Europe, early Jewish law mandated stoning for an adulterous wife and her partner.
Carolyn Fluehr-Lobban, an anthropology professor at Rhode Island College, writes that an act, or even alleged act, of any female sexual misconduct, upsets the moral order of the culture, and bloodshed is the only way to remove any shame brought by the actions and restore social equilibrium. However, the relation between honor and female sexuality is a complicated one, and some authors argue that it is not women's sexuality per se that is the 'problem', but rather women's self-determination in regard to it, as well as fertility. Sharif Kanaana, professor of anthropology at Birzeit University, says that honor killing is:
In some cultures, honor killings are considered less serious than other murders simply because they arise from long-standing cultural traditions and are thus deemed appropriate or justifiable. Additionally, according to a poll done by the BBC's Asian network, 1 in 10 of the 500 young South Asians surveyed said they would condone any murder of someone who threatened their family's honor.
Nighat Taufeeq of the women's resource center Shirkatgah in Lahore, Pakistan says: "It is an unholy alliance that works against women: the killers take pride in what they have done, the tribal leaders condone the act and protect the killers and the police connive the cover-up." The lawyer and human rights activist Hina Jilani says, "The right to life of women in Pakistan is conditional on their obeying social norms and traditions."
A July 2008 Turkish study by a team from Dicle University on honor killings in the Southeastern Anatolia Region, the predominantly Kurdish area of Turkey, has so far shown that little if any social stigma is attached to honor killing. It also comments that the practice is not related to a feudal societal structure, "there are also perpetrators who are well-educated university graduates. Of all those surveyed, 60 percent are either high school or university graduates or at the very least, literate."
In contemporary times, the changing cultural and economic status of women has also been used to explain the occurrences of honor killings. Women in largely patriarchal cultures who have gained economic independence from their families go against their male-dominated culture. Some researchers argue that the shift towards greater responsibility for women and less for their fathers may cause their male family members to act in oppressive and sometimes violent manners to regain authority.
Fareena Alam, former editor of the British Muslim magazine Q-News, writes that honor killings that arise in Western cultures such as Britain are a tactic for immigrant families to cope with the alienating consequences of urbanization. Alam argues that immigrants remain close to the home culture and their relatives because it provides a safety net. She writes that
Alam argues that it is thus the attempt to regain control and the feelings of alienation that ultimately leads to an honor killing.