An honor killing or shame killing is the murder of a member of a family, due to the perpetrators' belief that the victim has brought shame or dishonor upon the family, or has violated the principles of a community or a religion with an honor culture. Typical reasons include divorcing or separating from their spouse, refusing to enter an arranged, child or forced marriage, being in a relationship or having associations with social groups outside the family that is strongly disapproved by one's family, having premarital or extramarital sex, becoming the victim of rape or sexual assault, dressing in clothing, jewelry and accessories which are deemed inappropriate, engaging in non-heterosexual relations or renouncing a faith.
Though both men and women commit and are victims of honor killings, in some cultures the code of honor has different standards for men and women, including stricter standards for chastity for women and duty for men to commit violent acts if demanded by honor. In some cases the honor code is part of a larger social system that subjugates women to men. These asymmetries, combined with the predominance of heterosexual relationships and male perpetrators of violence, means honor killings are disproportionately violence against women. Prevention and punishment of honor killings and similar crimes of passion are issues of interest to local and international advocates for women's rights, men's rights, LGBT rights, freedom of religion, and groups against domestic violence in general.
Honor killing is a type of domestic violence in the broadest sense of violence within a family (not limited to intimate partner violence, which is another common meaning of the term). The justice systems of some countries, whether by explicit provisions of by lack of enforcement of existing laws, either do not prosecute or dispense reduced penalties for killings committed in the name of family honor. Some jurisdictions have more lenient penalties for crimes of passion committed without premeditation (such as murder immediately upon discovery of adultery), or explicitly have reduced penalties for a husband who kills a cheating wife (but not necessarily the reverse). Special treatment of crimes of passion apply whether or not the killing is made in the name of honor, but perpetrators of honor killings can benefit from these rules, and the exceptions raise similar objections from anti-violence advocates.
Definitions
Human Rights Watch 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 by members of the
family of a woman with whom they are perceived to have an inappropriate
relationship, or by partaking in gay activities.
In some cases of honor killing that were brought before German courts murder charges have been reduced to manslaughter. This has been called the "honor defense".
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 with regard to 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.
Honor killings of older victims are often perpetrated by the
husband, but in 44% of cases the killers also include family members of
the either the victim or the husband.
Honor killings of younger women were in 81% of cases perpetrated
by their family of origin and 53% of the younger victims were tortured
before they died.
Extent
The
incidence of honor killings is very difficult to determine and estimates
vary widely. In most countries data on honor killings is not collected
systematically, and many of these killings are reported by the families
as suicides or accidents and registered as such. Although honor killings are often associated with the Asian continent, especially the Middle East and South Asia, they occur all over the world. In 2000, the United Nations estimated that 5,000 women were victims of honor killings each year. According to BBC, "Women's advocacy groups, however, suspect that more than 20,000 women are killed worldwide each year." Murder is not the only form of honor crime, other crimes such as acid attacks, abduction, mutilations, and beatings occur; in 2010 the UK police recorded at least 2,823 such crimes.
Methods
Methods
of killing include stoning, stabbing, beating, burning, beheading,
hanging, throat slashing, lethal acid attacks, shooting and
strangulation.
The murders are sometimes performed in public to warn the other
individuals within the community of 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 killers,
so that the killer 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 sisters or other females in
the family, to ensure that the females 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
General cultural features
The cultural features which lead to honor killings are complex. Honor
killings involve violence and fear as a tool of 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 in order 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 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, in
order for the family to avoid losing face in the community. As Amnesty International statement notes:
The regime of honour is unforgiving: women on whom suspicion has fallen are not given an opportunity to defend themselves, and family members have no socially acceptable alternative but to remove the stain on their honour by attacking the woman.
The relation between social views on female sexuality
and honor killings is 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 kill 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:
A complicated issue that cuts deep into the history of Islamic society. .. What the men of the family, clan, or tribe seek control of in a patrilineal society is reproductive power. Women for the tribe were considered a factory for making men. The honour killing is not a means to control sexual power or behavior. What's behind it is the issue of fertility, or reproductive power.
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 in
order to regain authority.
This change of culture can also be seen to have an effect in
Western cultures such as Britain among South Asian and Middle-Eastern
communities where honor killings often target women seeking greater
independence and adopting seemingly Western values. For families who
trace their ancestry back to the Middle East or South Asia, honor
killings have targeted women for wearing clothes that are considered
Western, having a boyfriend, or refusing to accept an arranged marriage.
Fareena Alam,
editor of a Muslim magazine, writes that honor killings which 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,
In villages "back home", a man's sphere of control was broader, with a large support system. In our cities full of strangers, there is virtually no control over who one's family members sit, talk or work with.
Alam argues that it is thus the attempt to regain control and the
feelings of alienation that ultimately leads to an honor killing.
Specific triggers of honor killings
Refusal of an arranged or forced marriage
Refusal of an arranged marriage
or forced marriage is often a cause of an honor killing. The family
that has prearranged the marriage risks disgrace if the marriage does
not proceed and the betrothed is indulged in a relationship with other individual without prior knowledge of the family members.
Seeking a divorce
A
woman attempting to obtain a divorce or separation without the consent
of the husband/extended family can also be a trigger for honor killings.
In cultures where marriages are arranged and goods are often exchanged
between families, a woman's desire to seek a divorce is often viewed as
an insult to the men who negotiated the deal. By making their marital problems known outside the family, the women are seen as exposing the family to public dishonor.
Allegations and rumors about a family member
In certain cultures, an allegation
against a woman can be enough to tarnish her family's reputation, and
to trigger an honor killing: the family's fear of being ostracized by
the community is enormous.
Victims of rape
In many cultures, victims of rape face severe violence, including
honor killings, from their families and relatives. In many parts of the
world, women who have been raped are considered to have brought
'dishonor' or 'disgrace' to their families. This is especially the case if the victim becomes pregnant.
Central to the code of honor, in many societies, is a woman's virginity, which must be preserved until marriage.
Suzanne Ruggi writes, "A woman's virginity is the property of the men
around her, first her father, later a gift for her husband; a virtual
dowry as she graduates to marriage."
Homosexuality
There is evidence that homosexuality
can also be perceived as grounds for honor killing by relatives. It is
not only same-sex sexual acts that trigger violence – behaviors that are
regarded as inappropriate gender expression (e.g. a male acting or
dressing in a "feminine way") can also raise suspicion and lead to honor
violence.
In one case, a gay Jordanian man was shot and wounded by his brother. In another case, in 2008, a homosexual Turkish-Kurdish student, Ahmet Yildiz, was shot outside a cafe and later died in the hospital. Sociologists have called this Turkey's first publicized gay honor killing. In 2012, a 17-year-old gay youth was murdered by his father in Turkey in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees states that "claims made by LGBT persons often reveal exposure to physical and sexual violence, extended periods of detention, medical abuse, threat of execution and honor killing."
Forbidden male partners
In
many honor based cultures, a woman maintains her honor through her
modesty. If a man disrupts a woman's modesty, through dating her, having
sex with her (especially if her virginity was lost), talking to her,
the man has dishonored the woman, even if the relationship is
consensual. Thus to restore the woman's lost honor, the male members of
her family will often beat and kill the offender. Sometimes, violence
extends to the offender's family members, since honor feud attacks are
seen as family conflicts.
Causes
There are multiple causes for which honor killings occur, and numerous factors interact with each other.
Views on women
Honor
killings are often a result of strongly misogynistic views towards
women, and the position of women in society. In these traditionally
male-dominated societies women are dependent first on their father and
then on their husband, whom they are expected to obey. Women are viewed
as property and not as individuals with their own agency. As such, they
must submit to male authority figures in the family – failure to do so
can result in extreme violence as punishment. Violence is seen as a way of ensuring compliance and preventing rebellion.
According to Shahid Khan, a professor at the Aga Khan University in
Pakistan: "Women are considered the property of the males in their
family irrespective of their class, ethnic, or religious group. The
owner of the property has the right to decide its fate. The concept of
ownership has turned women into a commodity which can be exchanged,
bought and sold".
In such cultures, women are not allowed to take control over their
bodies and sexuality: these are the property of the males of the family,
the father (and other male relatives) who must ensure virginity until
marriage; and then the husband to whom his wife's sexuality is
subordinated – a woman must not undermine the ownership rights of her
guardian by engaging in premarital sex or adultery.
Cultures of honor and shame
The concept of family honor is extremely important in many Muslim, Hindu and Sikh communities.
The most frequently quoted figure published by the United Nations in
2000 is an estimate of 5,000 killings worldwide each year, most of them
in Islamic regions of South Asia, North Africa and the Middle East.
The family is viewed as the main source of honor and the community
highly values the relationship between honor and the family. Acts by
family members which may be considered inappropriate are seen as
bringing shame to the family in the eyes of the community. Such acts often include female behaviors that are related to sex outside marriage or way of dressing, but may also include male homosexuality.
The family may lose respect in the community, and may be shunned by
relatives. The only way the shame can be erased is through a killing. The cultures in which honor killings take place are usually considered "collectivist cultures",
where the family is more important than the individual, and individual
autonomy is seen as a threat to the family and its honor.
Laws
Legal
frameworks can encourage honor killings. Such laws include on one side
leniency towards such killings, and on the other side criminalization of
various behaviors, such as extramarital sex, "indecent" dressing in
public places, or homosexual sexual acts, with these laws acting as a
way of reassuring perpetrators of honor killings that people engaging in
these behaviors deserve punishment.
In the Roman Empire the Roman law Lex Julia de adulteriis coercendis implemented by Augustus Caesar
permitted the murder of daughters and their lovers who committed
adultery at the hands of their fathers and also permitted the murder of
the adulterous wife's lover at the hand of her husband.
The Napoleonic Code did not allow women to murder unfaithful husbands, while it permitted the murder of unfaithful women by their husbands.
The Napoleonic Code Article 324 which was passed in 1810 permitted the
murders of an unfaithful wife and her lover at the hand of her husband.
It was abolished only in 1975. On 7 November 1975, Law no. 617/75
Article 17 repealed the 1810 French Penal Code Article 324. The 1810
penal code Article 324 passed by Napoleon was copied by Middle Eastern
Arab countries. It inspired Jordan's
Article 340 which permits murder of a wife and her lover if caught in
the act at the hands of her husband. France's 1810 Penal Code Article
324 also inspired the 1858 Ottoman Penal Code's Article 188, both the
French Article 324 and Ottoman article 188 were drawn on to create
Jordan's Article 340 which was retained even after a 1944 revision of
Jordan's laws which did not touch public conduct and family law so
Article 340 still applies to this day.
France's Mandate over Lebanon resulted in its penal code being imposed
there in 1943–1944, with the French inspired Lebanese law for adultery
allowing the mere accusation of adultery against women resulting in a
maximum punishment of two years in prison while men have to be caught in
the act and not merely accused, and are punished with only one year in
prison.
France's Article 324 inspired laws in other Arab countries such as:
- Algeria's 1991 Penal Code Article 279
- Egypt's 1937 Penal Code no. 58 Article 237
- Iraq's 1966 Penal Code Article 409
- Jordan's 1960 Penal Code no. 16 Article 340
- Kuwait's Penal Code Article 153
- Lebanon's Penal Code Articles 193, 252, 253 and 562
- These were amended in 1983, 1994, 1995, 1996 and 1999 and were eventually repealed by the Lebanese Parliament on 4 August 2011
- Libya's Penal Code Article 375
- Morocco's 1963 amended Penal Code Article 418
- Oman's Penal Code Article 252
- Palestine, which had two codes
- Jordan's 1960 Penal Code 1960 in the West Bank and British Mandate Criminal Code Article 18 in the Gaza Strip
- These were respectively repealed by Article 1 and Article 2 and both by Article 3 of the 2011 Law no. 71 which was signed on 5 May 2011 by president Mahmoud Abbas into the 10 October 2011 Official Gazette no. 91 applying in the Criminal Code of Palestine's Northern Governorates and Southern Governorates
- Syria's 1953 amended 1949 Penal Code Article 548
- Tunisia's 1991 Penal Code Article 207 (which was repealed)
- United Arab Emirate's law no.3/1978 Article 334
- Yemen's law no. 12/1994 Article 232
Forced suicide as a substitute
A forced suicide may be a substitute for an honor killing. In this
case, the family members do not directly kill the victim themselves, but
force him or her to commit suicide, in order to avoid punishment. Such
suicides are reported to be common in southeastern Turkey. It was reported that in 2001, 565 women lost their lives in honor-related crimes in Ilam, Iran, of which 375 were reportedly staged as self-immolation.
In 2008, self-immolation "occurred in all the areas of Kurdish
settlement (in Iran), where it was more common than in other parts of
Iran". It is claimed that in Iraqi Kurdistan many deaths are reported as "female suicides" in order to conceal honor-related crimes.
Restoring honor through a forced marriage
In the case of an unmarried woman or girl associating herself with a
man, losing virginity, or being raped, the family may attempt to restore
its 'honor' with a 'shotgun wedding'. The groom will usually be the man
who has 'dishonored' the woman or girl, but if this is not possible the
family may try to arrange a marriage with another man, often a man who
is part of the extended family of the one who has committed the acts
with the woman or girl. This being an alternative to an honor killing,
the woman or girl has no choice but to accept the marriage. The family
of the man is expected to cooperate and provide a groom for the woman.
Religion
Widney Brown, the advocacy director of Human Rights Watch, said that the practice "goes across cultures and across religions".
Resolution 1327 (2003) of the Council of Europe states that:
The Assembly notes that whilst so-called "honor crimes" emanate from cultural and not religious roots and are perpetrated worldwide (mainly in patriarchal societies or communities), the majority of reported cases in Europe have been among Muslim or migrant Muslim communities (although Islam itself does not support the death penalty for honour-related misconduct).
According to a study by Phyllis Chesler,
in the 1989–2009 analysis of 172 honor killing incidents worldwide
involving 230 victims, 91% of the perpetrators were Muslims. In North
America, most killers (84%) were Muslim. In Europe, Muslims constituted
an even larger majority (96%). All except two victims had the same
religion as their murderers. The study concluded that although other
religious groups such as Sikhs and Hindus do sometimes commit such
murders, honor killings, both worldwide and in the West, are mainly
Muslim-on-Muslim crimes.
Hindu honor killings in India (mainly related to concerns about caste
purity) have also been reported (Chesler notes that while Muslim honor
killings are underreported in Western media, Hindu honor killings
receive much more coverage in Western media). However Hindus who have
emigrated to Western countries do not continue the custom in the West.
Many Muslim commentators and organizations condemn honor killings as an un-Islamic cultural practice. There is no mention of honor killing (extrajudicial killing by a woman's family) in either the Qur'an or the Hadiths, and the practice violates Islamic law. Tahira Shaid Khan, a professor of women's issues at Aga Khan University,
blames such killings on attitudes (across different classes, ethnic,
and religious groups) that view women as property with no rights of
their own as the motivation for honor killings. Salafi scholar Muhammad Al-Munajjid asserts that the punishment of any crime is only reserved for the Islamic ruler. Ali Gomaa, Egypt's former Grand Mufti, has also spoken out forcefully against honor killings.
As a more generic statement reflecting the wider Islamic scholarly trend, Jonathan A. C. Brown says that "questions about honor killings have regularly found their way into the inboxes of muftis like Yusuf Qaradawi or the late Lebanese Shiite scholar Muhammad Husayn Fadlallah. Their responses reflect a rare consensus.
No Muslim scholar of any note, either medieval or modern, has
sanctioned a man killing his wife or sister for tarnishing her or the
family's honor. If a woman or man found together were to deserve the
death penalty for fornication, this would have to be established by the
evidence required by the Qur'an: either a confession or the testimony of
four male witnesses, all upstanding in the eyes of the court, who
actually saw penetration occur."
Further, while honor killings are common in Muslim countries like Pakistan or the Arab nations, it is a practically unknown practice in many other Muslim countries too, such as Bangladesh, Indonesia or Senegal. This fact supports the idea that honor killings are to do with culture rather than religion.
In history
Matthew A. Goldstein, J.D. (Arizona), has noted that honor killings were encouraged in ancient Rome, where male family members who did not take action against the female adulterers in their families were "actively persecuted".
The origin of honor killings and the control of women is
evidenced throughout history in the cultures and traditions of many
regions. The Roman law of pater familias
gave complete control to the men of the family over both their children
and wives. Under these laws, the lives of children and wives were at
the discretion of the men in their families. Ancient Roman Law also
justified honor killings by stating that women who were found guilty of
adultery could be killed by their husbands. During the Qing dynasty in China, fathers and husbands had the right to kill daughters who were deemed to have dishonored the family.
Among the Amerindian Aztecs and Incas, adultery was punishable by death. During John Calvin’s rule of Geneva, women found guilty of adultery were punished by being drowned in the Rhone river.
Honor killings have a long tradition in Mediterranean Europe. According to the Honour Related Violence – European Resource Book and Good Practice
(page 234): "Honor in the Mediterranean world is a code of conduct, a
way of life and an ideal of the social order, which defines the lives,
the customs and the values of many of the peoples in the Mediterranean
moral".
By region
According to the UN in 2002:
The report of the Special Rapporteur... concerning cultural practices in the family that are violent towards women (E/CN.4/2002/83), indicated that honor killings had been reported in Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon (the Lebanese Parliament abolished the Honor killing in August 2011), Morocco, Pakistan, the Syrian Arab Republic, Turkey, Yemen, and other Mediterranean and Persian Gulf countries, and that they had also taken place in western countries such as France, Germany and the United Kingdom, within migrant communities.
In addition, the United Nations Commission on Human Rights gathered
reports from several countries and considering only the countries that
submitted reports it was shown that honor killings have occurred in Bangladesh, Great Britain, Brazil, Ecuador, Egypt, India, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Pakistan, Morocco, Sweden, Turkey, and Uganda.
According to Widney Brown, advocacy director for Human Rights Watch, the practice of honor killing "goes across cultures and across religions."
Europe
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Memorial plaque for Hatun Sürücü in Berlin, Germany. The Kurdish woman from Turkey was murdered at age of 23 by her brothers in an honor killing.
The issue of honor killings has risen to prominence in Europe in
recent years, prompting the need to address the occurrence of honor
killings. The 2009 European Parliamentary Assembly noted this in their
Resolution 1681 which noted the dire need to address honor crimes. The
resolution stated that:
On so-called 'honour crimes', the Parliamentary Assembly notes that the problem, far from diminishing, has worsened, including in Europe. It mainly affects women, who are its most frequent victims, both in Europe and the rest of the world, especially in patriarchal and fundamentalist communities and societies. For this reason, it asked the Council of Europe member states to 'draw up and put into effect national action plans to combat violence against women, including violence committed in the name of so-called 'honour', if they have not already done so.
The Honour Based Violence Awareness Network (HBVA) writes:
Certain Eastern European countries have recorded cases of HBV [honor based violence] within the indigenous populations, such as Albania and Chechnya, and there have been acts of ‘honour’ killings within living memory within Mediterranean countries such as Italy and Greece.
The majority of honor killings are committed by first generation
immigrants against second and third generation to prevent them from
becoming Westernized.
Albania
Honor based violence has a long tradition in Albania, and although it is much rarer today than it was in the past, it still exists. The Kanun is a set of traditional Albanian laws and customs. Honor (in Albanian: Nderi)
is one of the four pillars on which the Kanun is based. Honor crimes
happen especially in northern Albania. In Albania (and in other parts of
the Balkans) the phenomenon of blood feuds
between males was more common historically than honor killings of
females; but honor based violence against women and girls also has a
tradition.
Belgium
In 2011, Belgium
held its first honor killing trial, in which four Pakistani family
members were found guilty of killing their daughter and sibling, Sadia Sheikh.
As a legacy of the very influential Napoleonic Code,
before 1997, Belgian law provided for mitigating circumstances in the
case of a killing or an assault against a spouse caught in the act of
adultery. (Adultery itself was decriminalized in Belgium in 1987.)
Denmark
Ghazala Khan was shot and killed in Denmark
in September 2005, by her brother, after she had married against the
will of the family. She was of Pakistani origin. Her murder was ordered
by her father to save her family's 'honor' and several relatives were
involved. Sentences considered harsh by Danish standards were handed out
to all nine accused members of her family, and permanent banishment was ordered for those who were not Danish citizens.
Finland
The
first case of an honor killing in Finland happened in 2015, when an
Iraqi man was sentenced to 2 years in prison for planning to murder his
16-year-old sister. He was also sentenced for assault. He and their
mother had forbidden his sister from meeting people her own age and
leaving the home beyond going to school.
In 2019, a 48-year-old Iraqi attempted to murder his 40-year-old
ex-wife because she associated with other men. The stabbing was done at
an educational institution where both were studying. When she turned
around, he stabbed her in the back. She was seriously wounded but
survived. According to the accused, he was ridiculed by his friends
because the couple had arrived in Finland in 2015 and divorced shortly
after arriving.
France
France has a large immigrant community from North Africa (especially from Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia) and honor based violence occurs in this community. A 2009 report by the Council of Europe cited the United Kingdom, Germany, Belgium, France, and Norway as countries where honor crimes and honor killings occur.
France traditionally provided for leniency with regard to honor
crimes, particularly when they were committed against women who had
committed adultery.
The Napoleonic Code of 1804, established under Napoleon Bonaparte,
is one of the origins of the legal leniency with regard to
adultery-related killings in a variety of legal systems in several
countries around the world. Under this code, a man who killed his wife
after she had been caught in the act of adultery could not be charged
with premeditated murder – although he could be charged with other
lesser offenses. This defense was available only for a husband, not for a
wife. The Napoleonic Code has been very influential, and many
countries, inspired by it, provided for lesser penalties or even
acquittal for such crimes. This can be seen in the criminal codes of
many former French colonies.
Germany
Investigating criminal records for partner homicides from the years 1996–2005, the German Federal Criminal Police Office concluded that there were about 12 cases of honor killings in Germany per year, including cases involving collective family honor
and individual male honor, out of an average about 700 annual
homicides. An accompanied study of all homicides in Baden-Württemberg
show that men from Turkey, Yugoslavia and Albania have a between three
and five times overrepresentation for partner homicides, both honor and
non-honor related. The causes for the higher rate was given as low
education and social status of these groups along with cultural
traditions of violence against women.
In 2005 Der Spiegel reported: "In the past four months, six Muslim women living in Berlin have been killed by family members". The article went on to cover the case of Hatun Sürücü,
a Turkish-Kurdish woman who was killed by her brother for not staying
with the husband she was forced to marry, and for "living like a German".
Precise statistics on how many women die every year in such honor
killings are hard to come by, as many crimes are never reported, said
Myria Boehmecke of the Tübingen-based women's group Terre des Femmes. The group tries to protect Muslim girls and women from oppressive families. The Turkish women's organization Papatya has documented 40 instances of honor killings in Germany since 1996. Hatun Sürücü's brother was convicted of murder and jailed for nine years and three months by a German court in 2006.
In 2001, Turkish immigrant Mikdat Sacin murdered his 18-year-old
daughter Funda Sacin as she refused to marry her cousin from Ankara,
Turkey in a forced marriage and secretly married her boyfriend instead.
Mikdat S. has fled to his home country Turkey and has yet to come before
a court.
In 2005, 25 year old Turkish man Ali Karabey murdered his sister Gönul
Karabey for having a German boyfriend. "She brought shame upon the
family" he testified and he felt called upon to punish her with death.
He was sentenced to life imprisonment by a German court in 2006.
In 2008, Morsal Obeidi was murdered by her brother in Hamburg.
In 2010, Turkish immigrant and devout Muslim Mehmet Özkan murdered his
15-year-old daughter Büsra Özkan because she refused to live an Islamic
lifestyle and would chat with a young man she recently met.
In 2016 a Kurdish Yazidi woman was shot dead at her wedding in Hannover
for allegedly refusing to marry her cousin in a forced marriage.
Italy
Similar to other Southern/Mediterranean European areas, honor was traditionally important in Italy.
Indeed, until 1981, the Criminal Code provided for mitigating
circumstances for such killings; until 1981 the law read: "Art. 587: He
who causes the death of a spouse, daughter, or sister upon discovering
her in illegitimate carnal relations and in the heat of passion caused
by the offence to his honour or that of his family will be sentenced to
three to seven years. The same sentence shall apply to whom, in the
above circumstances, causes the death of the person involved in
illegitimate carnal relations with his spouse, daughter, or sister." Traditionally, honor crimes used to be more prevalent in Southern Italy.
In 1546, Isabella di Morra, a young poet from Valsinni, Matera, was stabbed to death by her brothers for a suspected affair with a married nobleman, whom they also murdered.
In 2006, 20-year-old Hina Saleem, a Pakistani woman who lived in Brescia,
Italy, was murdered by her father who claimed he was "saving the
family's honour". She had refused an arranged marriage, and was living
with her Italian boyfriend.
In 2009, in Pordenone,
Italy, Sanaa Dafani, an 18-year-old girl of Moroccan origin, was
murdered by her father because she had a relationship with an Italian
man.
In 2011, in Cerignola, Italy, a man stabbed his brother 19 times because his homosexuality was a "dishonour to the family".
Norway
Anooshe Sediq Ghulam
was a 22-year-old Afghan refugee in Norway, who was killed by her
husband in an honor killing in 2002. She had reported her husband to the
police for domestic violence and was seeking a divorce.
Sweden
The Swedish National Police Board and the Swedish Prosecution Authority
define honor related crime as crimes against a relative who, according
to the perpetrator and his family's point of view, has dishonored the
family. These crimes are intended to prevent the family honor being
damaged or to restore damaged or lost family honor.
The most serious honor related crime is often organised and
deliberate and not limited to killing. Incidents include torture, forced
suicides, forced marriages, rapes, kidnapping, assault, mortal threats,
extortion and protecting a criminal.
In Sweden the 26-year-old Iraqi Kurdish woman Fadime Şahindal was killed by her father in 2002. Kurdish organizations were criticized by prime minister Göran Persson for not doing enough to prevent honor killings. Pela Atroshi was a Kurdish girl who was shot by her uncle in an honor killing.
The murder of Pela and Fadime gave rise to the formation of GAPF (the
acronym stands for Never Forget Pela and Fadime), a politically and
religiously independent and secular nonprofit organization working
against honor-related violence and oppression. The organization's name
is taken from Pela Atroshi and Fadime Sahindal which are Sweden's
best-known and high-profile cases of honor killings.
The honor killing of Sara, an Iraqi Kurdish girl, was the first publicized honor killing in Sweden.
Sara was killed by her brother and cousin when she was 15 years old.
According to statements by her mother, Sara's brother believed that she
"was a whore who slept with Swedish boys", and that even though he
himself also slept with Swedish girls that "was different, because he is
a male, and he would not even think of sleeping with Iraqi girls, only
with Swedish girls, with whores". These three prominent cases brought the notion of honor killings into Swedish discourse.
In 2016 ten out of the 105 murder cases were honor killings, with
6 female and 4 male victims. The 6 female victims represented a third
of the 18 murders of women in Sweden that year.
In May 2019 the court of appeals found a man guilty of murdering
his wife in front of the Afghan couple's children who were minor at the
time. He was sentenced to life in prison, deportation and a lifetime ban
against returning to Sweden.
Switzerland
In 2010, a 16-year-old Pakistani girl was killed near Zurich, Switzerland, by her father who was dissatisfied with both her lifestyle and her Christian boyfriend.
In 2014, a 42-year old Syrian Kurd killed his wife (and cousin) because
she had a boyfriend and wanted to live separately. The suspect defended
himself by claiming that honor killing is part of Kurdish culture.
United Kingdom
Every year in the United Kingdom (UK), officials estimate that at
least a dozen women are victims of honor killings, almost exclusively
within Asian and Middle Eastern families. Often, cases cannot be resolved due to the unwillingness of families, relatives and communities to testify. A 2006 BBC poll for the Asian network in the UK found that one in ten of the 500 young Asians polled said that they could condone the killing of someone who had dishonored their families. In the UK, in December 2005, Nazir Afzal, Director, west London, of Britain's Crown Prosecution Service, stated that the United Kingdom has seen "at least a dozen honour killings" between 2004 and 2005.
In 2010, Britain saw a 47% rise in the number of honor-related
crimes. Data from police agencies in the UK report 2283 cases in 2010,
and an estimated 500 more from jurisdictions that did not provide
reports. These "honor-related crimes" also include house arrests and
other parental punishments. Most of the attacks were conducted in cities that had high immigrant populations.
Banaz Mahmod, a 20-year-old Iraqi Kurdish woman from Mitcham, south London, was killed in 2006, in a murder orchestrated by her father, uncle and cousins. Her life and murder were presented in a documentary called Banaz: A Love Story, directed and produced by Deeyah Khan.
Another well-known case was Heshu Yones, stabbed to death by her
Kurdish father in London in 2002 when her family heard a love song
dedicated to her and suspected she had a boyfriend.[citation needed] Other examples include the killing of Tulay Goren, a Kurdish Shia Muslim girl who immigrated with her family from Turkey, and Samaira Nazir (Pakistani Muslim).
A highly publicized case was that of Shafilea Iftikhar Ahmed, a 17-year-old British Pakistani girl from Great Sankey, Warrington, Cheshire, who was murdered in 2003 by her parents.
However, a lesser-known case is that of Gurmeet Singh Ubhi, a Sikh man
who, in February 2011, was found guilty of the murder of his 24-year-old
daughter, Amrit Kaur Ubhi in 2010.
Ubhi was found to have murdered his daughter because he disapproved of
her being "too westernised". Likewise he also disapproved of the fact
that she was dating a non-Sikh man.
In 2012, the UK had the first white victim of an honor killing:
17-year-old Laura Wilson was killed by her Asian boyfriend, Ashtiaq
Ashgar, because she revealed details of their relationship to his
family, challenging traditional cultural values of the Asian family.
Laura Wilson's mother told the Daily Mail,
"I honestly think it was an honour killing for putting shame on the
family. They needed to shut Laura up and they did". Wilson was
repeatedly knifed to death as she walked along a canal in Rotherham.
In 2013, Mohammed Inayat was jailed for killing his wife and
injuring three daughters by setting his house on fire in Birmingham.
Inayat wanted to stop his daughter from flying to Dubai to marry her
boyfriend, because he believed the marriage would dishonor his family. In 2014, the husband of Syrian-born 25-year-old Rania Alayed,
as well as three brothers of the husband, were jailed for killing her.
According to the prosecution, the motive for the murder was that she had
become "too westernised" and was "establishing an independent life".
Middle East and North Africa
Honor killings in Maghreb are not as common as in the Asian countries of the Middle East and South Asia, but they do occur. In Libya, they are particularly committed against rape victims.
In a poll with respondents across countries in the Arab world
such as Algeria (27%), Morocco (25%), Sudan (14%), Jordan (21%), Tunisia
(8%), Lebanon (8%) and the Palestinian territory of the West Bank (8%),
it was found that honor killings were more acceptable than
homosexuality.
Egypt
Honor killings in Egypt
occur due to reasons such as a woman meeting an unrelated man, even if
this is only an allegation; or adultery (real or suspected). The exact
number of honor killings is not known, but a report in 1995 estimated
about 52 honor
killings that year.
In 2013, a woman and her two daughters were murdered by 10 male
relatives, who strangled and beat them, and then threw their bodies in
the Nile. Honor killings are illegal in Egypt and five of the ten men were arrested.
Iran
In Iran,
honor killings occur primarily among tribal minority groups, such as
Kurdish, Arab, Lori, Baluchi, and Turkish-speaking tribes, while
honor-related crimes are not a tradition among Persians who are
generally less socially conservative. Honor killings are particularly prevalent in the provinces of Kordistan and Ilam, Iran. Discriminatory family laws,
articles in the Criminal Code that show leniency towards honor
killings, and a strongly male dominated society have been cited as
causes of honor killings in Iran.
Iraq
In 2008, the
United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) has stated that honor
killings are a serious concern in Iraq, particularly well documented in
Iraqi Kurdistan.
There are conflicting estimates on the number of honor killings in
Iraqi Kurdistan. The Free Women's Organization of Kurdistan (FWOK)
released a statement on International Women's Day 2015 noting that
"6,082 women were killed or forced to commit suicide during the past
year in Iraqi Kurdistan, which is almost equal to the number of the
Peshmerga martyred fighting Islamic State (IS)," and that a large number
of women were victims of honor killings or enforced suicide—mostly self-immolation or hanging. According to Zhin Woman magazine,
published in December 2015 in Sulaimaniya, from January to August 2015,
in the three main Kurdish provinces of Sulaimaniya, Erbil, and Duhok,
there were a total of 122 cases of honor killings and 124 women's
suicides.
According to KRG Ministry of Interior's Directorate-General of
Countering Violence Committed Against Women, only 14 women were victims
of "so-called" honor killings in 2017. The practice is reportedly
declining due to increased numbers of women's rights organizations and
government initiatives. About 500 honor killings per year are reported in hospitals in Iraqi Kurdistan, although real numbers are likely higher. It is speculated that alone in Erbil there is one honor killing per day. The UNAMI reported that at least 534 honor killings occurred between January and April 2006 in the Kurdish Governorates. It is claimed that many deaths are reported as "female suicides" in order to conceal honor-related crimes.
Aso Kamal of the Doaa Network Against Violence claimed that they have
estimated that there were more than 12,000 honor killings in Iraqi
Kurdistan from 1991 to 2007. He also said that the government figures
are much lower, and show a decline in recent years, and Kurdish law has
mandated since 2008 that an honor killing be treated like any other
murder.
Honor killings and other forms of violence against women have increased
since the creation of Iraqi Kurdistan, and "both the KDP and PUK
claimed that women’s oppression, including ‘honor killings’, are part of
Kurdish ‘tribal and Islamic culture’".
The honor killing and self-immolation condoned or tolerated by the
Kurdish administration in Iraqi Kurdistan has been labeled as
"gendercide" by Mojab (2003).
As many as 133 women were killed in the Iraqi city of Basra
alone in 2006. 79 were killed for violation of "Islamic teachings" and
47 for honor, according to IRIN, the news branch of the U.N.'s Office
for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Amnesty International says
that armed groups, not the government, also kill politically active
women and those who did not follow a strict dress code, as well as women
who are perceived as human rights defenders. 17-year-old Du'a Khalil Aswad, an Iraqi girl of the Yazidi faith, was stoned to death in front of a mob of about 2000 men in 2007, possibly because she was allegedly planning to convert to Islam.
A video of the brutal incident was released on the Internet. According
to the crowd she had "shamed herself and her family" for failing to
return home one night and there were suspicions of her converting to
Islam to marry her boyfriend, who was in hiding in fear of his own
safety.
Jordan
A 2008 report of the National Council of Family Affairs in Jordan, an NGO
affiliated with the Queen of Jordan, indicated that the National
Forensic Medicine Center recorded 120 murdered women in 2006, with 18
cases classified officially as crimes of honor. In 2013, the BBC
cited estimates by the National Council of Family Affairs in Jordan, an
NGO, that as many as 50 Jordanian women and girls had been killed in
the preceding 13 years. But the BBC indicated "the real figure" was
probably "far higher," because "most honour killings go unreported."
Men used to receive reduced sentences for killing their wives or
female family members if they are deemed to have brought dishonor to
their family. Families often get sons under the age of 16—legally minors—to
commit honor killings; the juvenile law allows convicted minors to
serve time in a juvenile detention center and be released with a clean
criminal record at the age of 16. Rana Husseini, a leading journalist on
the topic of honor killings, states that "under the existing law,
people found guilty of committing honor killings often receive sentences
as light as six months in prison". According to UNICEF, there are an average of 23 honor killings per year in Jordan.
On 1 August 2017, article 98 in the penal codes were amended to
exclude honor criminals from receiving lenient punishments for being in
"a state of great fury". However, article 340 which sees reduced
penalties when a man attacks or kills a female relative having found her
in the act of "adultery", is still in effect.
A 2013 survey of "856 ninth graders – average age of 15 – from a
range of secondary schools across Amman – including private and state,
mixed-sex and single gender" showed that attitudes favoring honor
killings are present in the "next generation" Jordanians: "In total,
33.4% of all respondents either "agreed" or "strongly agreed" with
situations depicting honour killings. Boys were more than twice as
likely to support honour killings: 46.1% of boys and 22.1% of girls
agreed with at least two honour killing situations in the
questionnaire." The parents' education was found to be a significant
correlation: "61% of teenagers from the lowest level of educational
background showed supportive attitudes towards honour killing, as
opposed to only 21.1% where at least one family member has a university
degree."
Kuwait
Kuwait
is relatively liberal (by Middle East standards), and honor killings
are rare, but not unheard of – in 2006 a young woman died in an honor
killing committed by her brothers. In 2008, a girl was given police
protection after reporting that her family intended to kill her for
having an affair with a man.
Lebanon
There are no exact official numbers about honor killings of women in Lebanon;
many honor killings are arranged to look like accidents, but the figure
is believed to be 40 to 50 per year. A 2007 report by Amnesty
International said that the Lebanese media in 2001 reported 2 or 3 honor
killings per month in Lebanon, although the number is believed to be
higher by other independent sources.
On 4 August 2011, however, the Lebanese Parliament
agreed by a majority to abolish Article 562, which for the past years
had worked as an excuse to commute the sentence given for honor killing.
Palestine
According to UNICEF estimates in 1999, two-thirds of all murders in the Palestinian territories were likely honor killings.
In 2005, 22-year-old Faten Habash, a Christian from West Bank,
was said to have dishonored her family by falling for a young Muslim
man, Samer. Following their thwarted attempts to elope to Jordan, she
suffered her relatives' wrath after rejecting the options of either
marrying her cousin or becoming a nun in Rome. She had spent a period of
time in hospital recovering from a broken pelvis and various other
injuries caused by an earlier beating by her father and other family
members. Still fearing her family after her release from hospital, she
approached a powerful Bedouin
tribe, which took her under its care. Her father then wept and gave his
word that he would not harm her. She returned to him, only to be
bludgeoned to death with an iron bar days later.
The Palestinian Authority, using a clause in the Jordanian penal code still in effect in the West Bank as of 2011, exempted men from punishment for killing a female relative if she has brought dishonor to the family.
The Palestinian Independent Commission for Human Rights has reported 29
women were killed 2007–2010, whereas 13 women were killed in 2011 and
12 in the first seven months of 2012. According to a PA Ministry of Women's Affairs report the rate of 'Honor Killings' went up by 100% in 2013, "reporting the number of 'honor killing' victims for 2013 at 27".
Mahmoud Abbas,
president of the Palestinian Authority, issued a decree in May 2014
under which the exemption of men was abolished in cases of honor
killings.
The Death of Israa Ghrayeb took place on 22 August 2019 in the Palestinian city of Bethlehem.
Israa Ghrayeb, 21 years old, was reportedly beaten to death by her
brother because she posted a selfie with her partner a day before they
were supposed to get engaged.
Saudi Arabia
In 2008 a woman was killed in Saudi Arabia by her father for "chatting" with a man on Facebook. The killing became public only when a Saudi cleric referred to the case, to criticize Facebook for the strife it caused.
In 2019 an apparent attempt at the "honor killing" of Saudi Rahaf Mohammed
was thwarted both by the successful online outreach made by Rahaf
Mohammed, and by the international media and diplomatic response to her
online pleas.
The 1980 film Death of a Princess infers that the execution of Princess Misha'al in 1977 was actually an honor killing, rather than a sentence handed down by a court.
Syria
Some estimates suggest that more than 200 honor killings occur every year in Syria.
The Syrian Civil War has been reported as leading to an increase in honor killings in the country, mainly due to the common occurrence of war rape, which led to the stigmatization of victims by their relatives and communities, and in turn to honor killings.
Turkey
A report compiled by the Council of Europe estimated that over 200 women were killed in honor killings in Turkey in 2007. A June 2008 report by the Turkish Prime Ministry's Human Rights Directorate said that in Istanbul
alone there was one honor killing every week, and reported over 1,000
during the previous five years. It added that metropolitan cities were
the location of many of these, due to growing immigration to these
cities from the East.
The mass migration during the past decades of rural population from
Southeastern Turkey to big cities in Western Turkey has resulted in
relatively more developed cities such as Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir, and
Bursa having the highest numbers of reported honor killings.
A report by UNFPA
identified the following situations as being common triggers for honor
killings: a married woman having an extra-marital relationship; a
married woman running away with a man; a married woman getting separated
or divorced; a divorced woman having a relationship with another man; a
young unmarried girl having a relationship; a young unmarried girl
running away with a man; a woman (married or unmarried) being kidnapped
and/or raped.
In Turkey, young boys are often ordered by other family members
to commit the honor killing, so that they can get a shorter jail
sentence (because they are minors).
Forced suicides – where the victim who is deemed to have 'dishonored'
the family is ordered to commit suicide in an attempt by the perpetrator
to avoid legal consequences – also take place in Turkey, especially in Batman in southeastern Turkey, which has been nicknamed "Suicide City".
In 2009 a Turkish news agency reported that a 2-day-old boy who
was born out of wedlock had been killed for honor in Istanbul. The
maternal grandmother of the infant, along with six other persons,
including a doctor who had reportedly accepted a bribe to not report the
birth, were arrested. The grandmother is suspected of fatally
suffocating the infant. The child's mother, 25, was also arrested; she
stated that her family had made the decision to kill the child.
In 2010 a 16-year-old girl was buried alive by relatives for
befriending boys in Southeast Turkey; her corpse was found 40 days after
she went missing.
Ahmet Yildiz, 26, a Turkish-Kurdish physics student who represented his
country at an international gay conference in the United States in
2008, was shot dead leaving a cafe in Istanbul.
Ahmet Yildiz who came from a deeply religious family was believed to
have been the victim of the country's first gay honor killing.
Honor killings continue to receive some support in the conservative regions of Turkey. In 2005, A small survey in Diyarbakir
in southeastern Turkey found that, when asked the appropriate
punishment for a woman who has committed adultery, 37% of respondents
said she should be killed, while 21% said her nose or ears should be cut
off. 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."
There are well documented cases, where Turkish courts have sentenced
whole families to life imprisonment for an honor killing. The most
recent was on 13 January 2009, where a Turkish Court sentenced five
members of the same Kurdish family to life imprisonment for the honor
killing of Naile Erdas, a 16-year-old girl who got pregnant as a result
of rape.
Honor killings also affect gay people. In 2008 a man had to flee from Turkey after his Kurdish boyfriend was killed by his own father.
Yemen
Honor killings are common in Yemen. In some parts of the country, traditional tribal customs forbid contact between men and women before marriage. Yemeni society is strongly male dominated, Yemen being ranked last of 135 countries in the 2012 Global Gender Gap Report. It was estimated that in 1997 about 400 women and girls died in honor killings in Yemen.
In 2013, a 15-year-old girl was killed by her father, who burned her to
death, because she talked to her fiancé before the wedding.
South Asia
Afghanistan
In 2012, Afghanistan
recorded 240 cases of honor killings, but the total number is believed
to be much higher. Of the reported honor killings, 21% were committed by
the victims’ husbands, 7% by their brothers, 4% by their fathers, and
the rest by other relatives.
In May 2017, United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan
concluded that the vast majority of cases involving honor killings and
murders of women, perpetrators were not punished. Of the 280 recorded
cases in the January 2016-December 2017 time span, 50 cases ended in a
conviction. UNAMA concluded that the vast majority offences could be
committed with impunity.
India
Honor killings have been reported in northern regions of India, mainly in the Indian states of Punjab, Rajasthan, Haryana, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh, as a result of people marrying without their family's acceptance, and sometimes for marrying outside their caste or religion. In contrast, honor killings are less prevalent but are not completely non-existent the western Indian states of Maharashtra and Gujarat. In 2015 National Crime Records Bureau
data shows, 251 honor killings were reported in India, activists
consider this number to be under estimation due to the misreporting of
killings under general murders. According to the survey done by AIDWA, over 30 percent of the total honor killings in the country takes place in Western Uttar Pradesh. In some other parts of India, notably West Bengal, honor killings completely ceased about a century ago, largely due to the activism and influence of reformists such as Vivekananda, Ramakrishna, Vidyasagar and Raja Ram Mohan Roy.
Haryana has had incidences of honor killings, mainly among Meenas, Rajputs and Jats. Role of khap panchayats (caste councils of village elders) has been questioned. Feminist scholars who studied khaps explain that only 2% to 3% honor killings are related to gotra killings by the khap or caste panchayats, rest are done by the families, "will you ban families?" they reason. Madhu Kishwar, a professor at Centre for the Study of Developing Societies,
explains that, "there are plenty of tyrannical police officials, plenty
of incompetent and corrupt judges in India who pass very retrogressive
judgments, but no one says ban the police and the law courts. By what
right do they demand a ban on khaps, simply because some members
have undemocratic views? Educated elite in India don't know anything
about the vital role played by these age-old institutions of
self-governance."
In March 2010, Karnal district court ordered the execution of five perpetrators of an honor killing and imprisoning for life the khap
(local caste-based council) chief who ordered the killings of Manoj
Banwala (23) and Babli (19), a man and woman of the same clan who eloped
and married in June 2007. Despite having been given police protection
on court orders, they were kidnapped; their mutilated bodies were found a
week later in an irrigation canal.
In 2013, a young couple who were planning to marry were murdered in
Garnauthi village, Haryana, due to having a love affair. The woman,
Nidhi, was beaten to death and the man, Dharmender, was dismembered
alive. People in the village and neighbouring villages approved of the
killings.
The Indian state of Punjab
also has a large number of honor killings. According to data compiled
by the Punjab Police, 34 honor killings were reported in the state
between 2008 and 2010: 10 in 2008, 20 in 2009, and four in 2010. Bhagalpur in the eastern Indian state of Bihar has also been notorious for honor killings. Recent cases include a 16-year-old girl, Imrana, from Bhojpur
who was set on fire inside her house in a case of what the police
called 'moral vigilantism'. The victim had screamed for help for about
20 minutes before neighbours arrived, only to find her smouldering body.
She was admitted to a local hospital, where she later died from her
injuries. In May 2008, Jayvirsingh Bhadodiya shot his daughter Vandana Bhadodiya and struck her on the head with an axe. Honor killings occur even in Delhi.
Honor killings take place in Rajasthan, too.
In June 2012, a man chopped off his 20-year-old daughter's head with a
sword in Rajasthan after learning that she was dating men.
According to police officer, "Omkar Singh told the police that his
daughter Manju had relations with several men. He had asked her to mend
her ways several times in the past. However, she did not pay heed. Out
of pure rage, he chopped off her head with the sword".
In 1990 the National Commission for Women
set up a statutory body in order to address the issues of honor
killings among some ethnic groups in North India. This body reviewed constitutional, legal
and other provisions as well as challenges women face. The NCW's
activism has contributed significantly towards the reduction of honor
killings in rural areas of North India. According to Pakistani activists Hina Jilani and Eman M Ahmed, Indian women are considerably better protected against honor killings by Indian law
and government than Pakistani women, and they have suggested that
governments of countries affected by honor killings use Indian law as a
model in order to prevent honor killings in their respective societies.
In June 2010, scrutinising the increasing number of honor killings, the Supreme Court of India
demanded responses about honor killing prevention from the federal
government and the state governments of Punjab, Haryana, Bihar, Uttar
Pradesh, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Himachal Pradesh, and Madhya Pradesh.
Alarmed by the rise of honor killings, the Government planned to bring a bill in the Monsoon Session of Parliament July 2010 to provide for deterrent punishment for 'honor' killings.
In 2000 Jaswinder Kaur Sidhu
(nicknamed Jassi), a Canadian Punjabi who married rickshaw driver
Sukhwinder Singh Sidhu (nicknamed Mithu) against her family's wishes,
was brutally murdered in India
following orders from her mother and uncle in Canada so that "the
family honor was restored". Her body was found in an irrigation canal.
Mithu was kidnapped, beaten and left to die, but survived.
Nepal
Honor killings have been reported in Nepal, with much of them linked with the caste system that is deeply rooted in Nepalese tradition. Most honor killings are reportedly undetected. Gender-based violence has been the deadliest form of violence in Nepal as of 2017, which includes honor killings and have been rising in the country as of 2012.
Pakistan
In Pakistan honor killings are known locally as karo-kari.
An Amnesty International report noted "the failure of the authorities
to prevent these killings by investigating and punishing the
perpetrators."
Official data puts the number of women killed in honor killings in 2015 at nearly 1,100. Recent cases include that of three teenage girls who were buried alive after refusing arranged marriages. Another case was that of Taslim Khatoon Solangi, 17, of Hajna Shah village in Khairpur district,
which was widely reported after her father, 57-year-old Gul Sher
Solangi, publicized the case. He alleged his eight-months-pregnant
daughter was tortured and killed on 7 March on the orders of her
father-in-law, who accused her of carrying a child conceived out of
wedlock.
Statistically, honor killings have a high level of support in
Pakistan's rural society, despite widespread condemnation from human
rights groups. In 2002 alone over 382 people, about 245 women and 137 men, became victims of honor killings in the Sindh province of Pakistan. Over the course of six years, more than 4,000 women have died as victims of honor killings in Pakistan from 1999 to 2004. In 2005 the average annual number of honor killings for the whole nation was stated to be more than 1,000 per year.
A 2009 study by Muazzam Nasrullah et al. reported a total of
1,957 honor crime victims reported in Pakistan's newspapers from 2004 to
2007.
Of those killed, 18% were below the age of 18 years, and 88% were
married. Husbands, brothers and close relatives were direct perpetrators
of 79% of the honor crimes reported by mainstream media. The method
used for honor crime included firearms (most common), stabbing, axe and
strangulation.
According to women's rights advocates, "the concepts of women as
property, and of honor, are so deeply entrenched in the social,
political and economic fabric of Pakistan that the government mostly
ignores the regular occurrences of women being killed and maimed by
their families." Frequently, women killed in honor killings are recorded as having committed suicide or died in accidents. Savitri Goonesekere states that Islamic leaders in Pakistan use religious justifications for sanctioning honor killings.
On 27 May 2014, a pregnant woman was stoned to death by her own
family in front of a Pakistani high court for marrying the man she
loved. "I killed my daughter as she had insulted all of our family by
marrying a man without our consent, and I have no regret over it," the
father reportedly told the police investigator. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif
described the stoning as "totally unacceptable," and ordered the chief
minister of Punjab province to provide an immediate report. He demanded
to know why police did nothing, despite the killing taking place outside
one of the country's top courts, in the presence of police. Scholars suggest that the Islamic law doctrine of Qisas and Diyya encourages honor killings, particularly against females, as well as allows the murderer to go unpunished.
In 2016, Pakistan repealed the loophole which allowed the perpetrators
of honor killings to avoid punishment by seeking forgiveness for the
crime from another family member, and thus be legally pardoned.
In January 2017 a Pakistani mother was sentenced to death for killing her daughter that had married against her family's wishes.
East Asia
China
Honor
killing is rare in East Asia. Only one case in China is considered by
some as honor killing. On 15 April 2017, Ma Ruibao, a Hui resident of Zhongning County in Ningxia, murdered his daughter, her boyfriend and the taxi driver who drove the couple home.
The Americas
Brazil
Throughout the 20th century, husbands have used the "legitimate defense of their honor" (legítima defesa da honra)
as justification for adultery-related killings in court cases. Although
this defense was not explicitly stipulated in the 20th century Criminal
Code, it has been successfully pleaded by lawyers throughout the 20th
century, in particular in the interior of the country, though less so in
the coastal big cities. In 1991 Brazil's Supreme Court explicitly rejected the "honor defense" as having no basis in Brazilian law.
Canada
A 2007 study by Dr. Amin Muhammad and Dr. Sujay Patel of Memorial University, Canada,
investigated how the practice of honor killings has been brought to
Canada. The report explained that "When people come and settle in Canada
they can bring their traditions and forcefully follow them. In some
cultures, people feel that some boundaries are never to be crossed, and
if someone would violate those practices or go against them, then
killing is justified to them." The report noted that "In different
cultures, they can get away without being punished—the courts actually
sanction them under religious contexts". The report also said that the
people who commit these crimes are usually mentally ill, and that the
mental health aspect is often ignored by Western observers because of a
lack of understanding of the insufficiently developed state of mental
healthcare in developing countries in which honor killings are
prevalent.
Canada has been host to a number of high-profile killings, including the murder of Jaswinder Kaur Sidhu, the murder of Amandeep Atwal, the double murder of Khatera Sadiqi and her fiancé, and the Shafia family murders.
Honor killings have become such a pressing issue in Canada that
the Canadian citizenship study guide mentions it specifically, saying,
"Canada's openness and generosity do not extend to barbaric cultural
practices that tolerate spousal abuse, 'honour killings', female genital mutilation, forced marriage or other gender-based violence."
United States
Phyllis Chesler
argues that the U.S., as well as Canada, do not have proper measures in
place to fight against honor killings, and they do not recognize these
murders as a specific form of violence, distinct from other domestic
murders, due to fear of being labeled "culturally insensitive".
According to her, this often prevents government officials in the
United States and the media from identifying and accurately reporting
these incidents as "honor killings" when they occur. Failing to
accurately describe the problem makes it more difficult to develop
public policies to address it, she argues.
She also writes that, although there are not many cases of honor
killing within the United States, the overwhelming majority of honor
killings are perpetrated by Muslims against Muslims (90% of honor
killings known to have taken place in Europe and the United States from
1998 to 2008).
In these documented cases the victims were murdered because they were
believed to have acted in a way that was against the religion of the
family. In every case, the perpetrators view their victims as having
violated rules of religious conduct and they act without remorse.
Several honor killings have occurred in the U.S. during recent years. In 1989, in St. Louis, Missouri, 16-year-old Palestina "Tina" Isa
was murdered by her Palestinian father with the aid of his wife. Her
parents were dissatisfied with her "westernized" lifestyle. In 2008, in Georgia, 25-year-old Sandeela Kanwal was killed by her Pakistani father for refusing an arranged marriage. Amina and Sarah Said, two teenage sisters from Texas were killed, allegedly by their Egyptian father, Yaser Abdel Said, who is still at large. Yaser is currently on the FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list, and he has been on the list since 10 December 2014. Aasiya Zubair was, together with her husband Muzzammil Hassan,
the founder and owner of Bridges TV, the first American Muslim
English-language television network. She was killed by her husband in
2009. Phyllis Chesler argues that this crime was an honor killing. In 2009, in Arizona,
Noor Almaleki, aged 20, was killed by her father, an Iraqi immigrant,
because she had refused an arranged marriage and was living with her
boyfriend.
The extent of honor-based violence in the U.S. is not known,
because no official data is collected. There is controversy about the
reasons why such violence occurs, and about the extent to which culture,
religion, and views on women cause these incidents.
Latin America
Crimes of passion within Latin America have also been compared to honor killings.
As with honor killings, crimes of passion often feature the murder of a
woman by a husband, family member, or boyfriend and the crime is often
condoned or sanctioned. In Peru,
for example, 70 percent of the murders of women in one year were
committed by a husband, boyfriend or lover, and most often jealousy or
suspicions of infidelity are cited as the reasons for the murders.
The view that violence can be justified in the name of honor and shame exists traditionally in Latin American societies, and machismo
is often described as a code of honor. While some ideas originated in
the Spanish colonial culture, others predate it: in the early history of
Peru, the laws of the Incas allowed husbands to starve their wives to death if they committed adultery, while Aztec laws in early Mexico stipulated stoning or strangulation as punishment for female adultery.
Until a few decades ago, the marriage of a girl or woman to the
man who had raped her was considered a "solution" to the incident in
order to restore her family's 'honor'. In fact, although laws that
exonerate the perpetrator of rape if he marries his victim after the
rape are often associated with the Middle East, such laws were very
common around the world until the second half of the 20th century. As
late as 1997, 14 Latin American countries had such laws although most of these countries have since abolished them. Such laws were ended in Mexico in 1991, El Salvador in 1996, Colombia in 1997, Peru in 1999, Chile in 1999, Brazil in 2005, Uruguay in 2005, Guatemala in 2006, Costa Rica in 2007, Panama in 2008, Nicaragua in 2008, Argentina in 2012, and Ecuador in 2014.
Oceania
Australia
Jim Spigelman
(who served as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of New South Wales
from 19 May 1998 until 31 May 2011) said that Australia's increasing
diversity was creating conflicts about how to deal with the customs and
traditions of immigrant populations. He said: "There are important
racial, ethnic and religious minorities in Australia who come from
nations with sexist traditions which, in some respects, are even more
pervasive than those of the West." He said that honor crimes, forced
marriages and other violent acts against women were becoming a problem
in Australia.
In 2010, in New South Wales,
Indonesian born Hazairin Iskandar and his son killed the lover of
Iskandar's wife. Iskandar stabbed the victim with a knife while his son
bashed him with a hammer. The court was told that the reason for the
murder was the perpetrators' belief that extramarital affairs were
against their religion; and that the murder was carried out to protect
the honor of the family and was a "pre-planned, premeditated and
executed killing". The judge said that: "No society or culture that
regards itself as civilized can tolerate to any extent, or make any
allowance for, the killing of another person for such an amorphous
concept as honour".
Pela Atroshi was a Kurdish 19-year-old girl who was killed by her uncle in Iraqi Kurdistan
in 1999. The decision to kill her was taken by a council of her male
relatives, led by Pela's grandfather, Abdulmajid Atroshi, who lived in
Australia. One of his sons, Shivan Atroshi, who helped with the murder,
also lived in Australia. Pela Atroshi was living in Sweden,
but was taken by family members to Iraqi Kurdistan to be killed, as
ordered by a family council of male relatives living in Sweden and
Australia, because they claimed she had tarnished the family honor. Pela
Atroshi's murder was officially deemed an honor killing by authorities.
International response
Honor killings are condemned as a serious human rights violation and are addressed by several international instruments.
Honor killings are opposed by United Nations General Assembly
Resolution 55/66 (adopted in 2000) and subsequent resolutions, which
have generated various reports.
The Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence addresses this issue. Article 42 reads:
Article 42 – Unacceptable justifications for crimes, including crimes committed in the name of so-called "honour"
1. Parties shall take the necessary legislative or other measures to ensure that, in criminal proceedings initiated following the commission of any of the acts of violence covered by the scope of this Convention, culture, custom, religion, tradition or so-called "honour" shall not be regarded as justification for such acts. This covers, in particular, claims that the victim has transgressed cultural, religious, social or traditional norms or customs of appropriate behaviour.
2. Parties shall take the necessary legislative or other measures to ensure that incitement by any person of a child to commit any of the acts referred to in paragraph 1 shall not diminish the criminal liability of that person for the acts committed.
The World Health Organization
(WHO) addressed the issue of honor killings and stated: "Murders of
women to 'save the family honour' are among the most tragic consequences
and explicit illustrations of embedded, culturally accepted
discrimination against women and girls." According to the UNODC:
"Honour crimes, including killing, are one of history's oldest forms of
gender-based violence. It assumes that a woman's behaviour casts a
reflection on the family and the community. ... In some communities, a
father, brother or cousin will publicly take pride in a murder committed
in order to preserve the 'honour' of a family. In some such cases,
local justice officials may side with the family and take no formal
action to prevent similar deaths."
In national legal codes
Legislation on this issue varies, but today the vast majority of countries no longer allow a husband to legally kill a wife for adultery (although adultery itself continues to be punishable by death
in some countries) or to commit other forms of honor killings. However,
in many places, adultery and other "immoral" sexual behaviors by female
family members can be considered mitigating circumstances in case when they are killed, leading to significantly shorter sentences.
In the Western world, a country that is often associated with "crimes of passion" and adultery related violence is France,
and indeed, recent surveys have shown French public to be more
accepting of these practices than the public in other countries. One
2008 Gallup survey compared the views of the French, German and British
public and those of French, German and British Muslims on several social
issues: 4% of French public said "honor killings" were "morally
acceptable" and 8% of French public said "crimes of passion" were
"morally acceptable"; honor killings were seen as acceptable by 1% of
German public and also 1% of British public; crimes of passion were seen
as acceptable by 1% of German public and 2% of British public. Among
Muslims 5% in Paris, 3% in Berlin and 3% in London saw honor killings as
acceptable, and 4% in Paris (less than French public), 1% in Berlin and
3% in London saw crimes of passion as acceptable.
According to the report of the United Nations Special Rapporteur submitted to the 58th session of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in 2002 concerning cultural practices in the family that reflect violence against women (E/CN.4/2002/83):
The Special Rapporteur indicated that there had been contradictory decisions with regard to the honour defense in Brazil, and that legislative provisions allowing for partial or complete defence in that context could be found in the penal codes of Argentina, Ecuador, Egypt, Guatemala, Iran, Israel, Jordan, Peru, Syria, Venezuela and the Palestinian National Authority.
The legal aspects of honor killings in different countries are discussed below:
- Jordan: In recent years, Jordan has amended its Code to modify its laws which used to offer a complete defense for honor killings.
- Many former French colonies offer the possibility of reduced sentences in regard to adultery related violent crimes (inspired by the French Napoleonic Code).
- In Brazil, an explicit defense to murder in case of adultery has never been part of the criminal code, but a defense of "honor" (not part of the criminal code) has been widely used by lawyers in such cases to obtain acquittals. Although this defense has been generally rejected in modern parts of the country (such as big cities) since the 1950s, it has been very successful in the interior of the country. In 1991 Brazil's Supreme Court explicitly rejected the "honor" defense as having no basis in Brazilian law.
- Haiti: In 2005, the laws were changed, abolishing the right of a husband to be excused for murdering his wife due to adultery. Adultery was also decriminalized.
- Syria: In 2009, Article 548 of the Syrian Law code was amended. Beforehand, the article waived any punishment for males who committed murder on a female family member for inappropriate sex acts. Article 548 states that "He who catches his wife or one of his ascendants, descendants or sister committing adultery (flagrante delicto) or illegitimate sexual acts with another and he killed or injured one or both of them benefits from a reduced penalty, that should not be less than 2 years in prison in case of a killing." Article 192 states that a judge may opt for reduced punishments (such as short-term imprisonment) if the killing was done with an honorable intent. In addition to this, Article 242 says that a judge may reduce a sentence for murders that were done in rage and caused by an illegal act committed by the victim.
- Turkey: In Turkey, persons found guilty of this crime are sentenced to life in prison. There are well documented cases, where Turkish courts have sentenced whole families to life imprisonment for an honor killing. The most recent was on 13 January 2009, where a Turkish Court sentenced five members of the same Kurdish family to life imprisonment for the honor killing of Naile Erdas, 16, who got pregnant as a result of rape.
- Pakistan: Honor killings are known as karo kari (Sindhi: ڪارو ڪاري) (Urdu: کاروکاری). The practice is supposed to be prosecuted under ordinary killing, but in practice police and prosecutors often ignore it. Often a man must simply claim the killing was for his honor and he will go free. Nilofar Bakhtiar, advisor to Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, stated that in 2003, as many as 1,261 women were killed in honor killings. The Hudood Ordinances of Pakistan, enacted in 1979 by then ruler General Zia-ul-Haq, created laws that realigned Pakistani rule with Islamic law. The law had the effect of reducing the legal protections for women, especially regarding sex outside of the marriage. Women who made accusations of rape, after this law, were required to provide four male witnesses. If unable to do this, the alleged rape could not be prosecuted in the courts. Because the woman had admitted to sex outside of marriage, however, she could be punished for having sex outside of the marriage, a punishment that ranged from stoning to public lashing. This law made it that much more risky for women to come forward with accusations of rape. In 2006, the Women's Protection Bill amended these Hudood Ordinances by removing four male witnesses as a requirement for rape allegations. On 8 December 2004, under international and domestic pressure, Pakistan enacted a law that made honor killings punishable by a prison term of seven years, or by the death penalty in the most extreme cases. In 2016, Pakistan repealed the loophole which allowed the perpetrators of honor killings to avoid punishment by seeking forgiveness for the crime from another family member, and thus be legally pardoned.
- Egypt: A number of studies on honor crimes by The Centre of Islamic and Middle Eastern Law, at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London, includes one which reports on Egypt's legal system, noting a gender bias in favor of men in general, and notably article 17 of the Penal Code: judicial discretion to allow reduced punishment in certain circumstance, often used in honor killings case.
Support and sanction
Actions of Pakistani police officers and judges (particularly at the lower level of the judiciary)
have, in the past, seemed to support the act of honor killings in the
name of family honor. Police enforcement, in situations of admitted
murder, do not always take action against the perpetrator. Also, judges
in Pakistan (particularly at the lower level of the judiciary),
rather than ruling cases with gender equality in mind, also seem to
reinforce inequality and in some cases sanction the murder of women
considered dishonorable.
Often, a suspected honor killing never even reaches court, but in cases
where they do, the alleged killer is often not charged or is given a
reduced sentence of three to four years in jail. In a case study of 150
honor killings, the proceeding judges rejected only eight of claims that
the women were killed for honor. The rest were sentenced lightly.
In many cases in Pakistan, one of the reasons honor killing cases never
make it to the courts, is because, according to some lawyers and
women's right activists, Pakistani law enforcement do not get involved.
Under the encouragement of the killer, police often declare the killing
as a domestic case that warrants no involvement. In other cases, the
women and victims are too afraid to speak up or press charges. Police
officials, however, claim that these cases are never brought to them, or
are not major enough to be pursued on a large scale. The general indifference to the issue of honor killing within Pakistan is due to a deep-rooted gender bias in law, the police force, and the judiciary. In its report, "Pakistan: Honor Killings of Girls and Women",
published in September 1999, Amnesty International criticized
governmental indifference and called for state responsibility in
protecting human rights of female victims. To elaborate, Amnesty
strongly requested the Government of Pakistan to take 1) legal, 2)
preventive, and 3) protective measures. First of all, legal measures
refer to a modification of the government's criminal laws to guarantee
equal legal protection of females. On top of that, Amnesty insisted the
government to assure legal access for the victims of crime in the name
of honor. When it comes to preventive measures, Amnesty underlined the
critical need to promote public awareness through the means of media,
education, and public announcements. Finally, protective measures
include ensuring a safe environment for activists, lawyers, and women's
group to facilitate eradication of honor killings. Also, Amnesty argued
for the expansion of victim support services such as shelters.
Kremlin-appointed Chechen president Ramzan Kadyrov
said that honor killings were perpetrated on those who deserved to die.
He said that those who are killed have "loose morals" and are
rightfully shot by relatives in honor killings. He did not vilify women
alone but added that "If a woman runs around and if a man runs around
with her, both of them are killed."
In 2007, a famous Norwegian Supreme Court advocate stated that he
wanted the punishment for the killing from 17 years in prison to 15
years in the case of honor killings practiced in Norway.
He explained that the Norwegian public did not understand other
cultures who practiced honor killings, or understand their thinking, and
that Norwegian culture "is self-righteous".
In 2008, Israr Ullah Zehri, a Pakistani politician in Balochistan, defended the honor killings of five women belonging to the Umrani tribe by a relative of a local Umrani politician.
Zehri defended the killings in Parliament and asked his fellow
legislators not to make a fuss about the incident. He said, "These are
centuries-old traditions, and I will continue to defend them. Only those
who indulge in immoral acts should be afraid."
Nilofar Bakhtiar, Minister for Tourism and Advisor to Pakistan
Prime Minister on Women's Affairs, who had struggled against the honor
killing in Pakistan, resigned in April 2007 after the clerics accused
her of bringing shame to Pakistan by para-jumping with a male and
hugging him after landing.
