Honor killings

The term "honor killings" refers to murders committed within a family or other social group for the purpose of maintaining family or group honor. A majority of the murders currently classified as honor killings by law enforcement involve cases in which women from conservative cultural groups were killed by family members for being perceived to have failed to live in accordance with the norms and values of the group. Honor killing of women is often related to sexual behavior, and many cases occur when women refuse to engage in arranged or forced marriages or if they engage in sexual behavior that violates accepted cultural norms.

In the case of some honor killings in Europe and North America, victims have been killed for taking on Western behaviors that are seen as violations of traditional moral and behavioral codes, including adopting Western dress, listening to Western music, or having a romantic affiliation with members of other ethnic or cultural groups. In some cases, individuals have been the victims of honor-based violence for displaying homosexual behavior. In Europe and North America, a majority of known honor killings have been connected with Muslim immigrant groups, prompting the misconception among some that the practice is condoned by Islam. The practice of honor killing has also been connected to conservative Hindu and Christian communities in some countries.

Some argue that honor killings are a distinct type of homicide and that police and judicial authorities must develop specific strategies for prosecution, investigation, and prevention to address the issue. Some also support specific training programs to help police and social service groups to understand issues of motivation for honor-based violence. Despite the unique motivations involved, some argue that honor killings should not be treated differently than any other form of murder, with perpetrators subject to the same laws and penalties that govern homicide laws. In addition, some object to the use of the term "honor killing" because it carries social connotations that can lead to religious or cultural persecution.

Understanding the Discussion

Chastity: Abstention from sexual activity or discourse, or behavior in keeping with the sexual laws and rules of a society, family, or social group.

Honor: Perceived level of respectability, worthiness, or esteem with regard to a person, family, or certain group within the larger context of a society or more intimate social group.

Patriarchy: A type of social group in which men are the designated leaders and authority is passed through male members of the group or family.

Premeditated murder: A category of crime defined as causing the death of another individual with planning either in the method used to commit the murder or in steps taken to conceal the crime.

Social norms: Rules of behavior and conduct that govern a certain society or subgroup of society.

Vengeance: Infliction of bodily harm against another individual in retribution for actual or perceived harm received as a result of that individual's actions or behaviors.

Virginity: The state of a person who has not engaged in sexual intercourse or other sexual behavior seen as violating the state of virginity within a certain cultural or social context.

History

Murders motivated by the desire to defend or protect family or group honor or to seek vengeance against those who dishonor the social or cultural group occur in a number of countries, including Yemen, Bangladesh, Pakistan, India, Morocco, Israel, Egypt, China, Turkey, Brazil, Ecuador, Italy, Great Britain, and the United States. The global breadth of incidents and the variety of cultural groups involved in honor-based murders and other crimes indicate that honor killing is global in scope and not restricted to a certain ethnic, religious, cultural, or social group.

Historians have traced the origin of honor killing to ancient patriarchic traditions found around the world wherein female members of the society were often legally regarded as the property of the male members of an extended family group. The practice of honor killing is intimately tied to legal and cultural precedents granting a man the right to protect personal or family honor by punishing or executing his wife or children for adultery or the violation of sexual norms.

The Code of Assura, from the ancient Assyrian culture, for instance, contains provisions stating that a woman's chastity and virginity are the property of her family. In Assyrian culture, women were traded as property between families, and the virginity of the woman was considered a part of her "value" in trade. An individual involved in taking the virginity of a woman was therefore subject to legal penalties or retribution from the leader of the family. Further, a man was permitted to kill a woman in his family suspected of behaving in ways that violated her chastity or sexual propriety. Similarly, in the Qing dynasty period of China, from the seventeenth to the nineteenth century, fathers were legally permitted to kill daughters seen as having violated family honor. Similar statutes existed in the ancient Incan and Aztec civilizations of the New World.

According to legal scholar Matthew A. Goldstein, in his 2002 article "The Biological Roots of Heat-of-Passion Crimes and Honor Killings," the Old Testament books of Leviticus and Deuteronomy sanction the use of a death sentence as punishment for adultery, while similar punishments are mentioned in the New Testament. While death sentences for adultery are not explicitly condoned in the Quran, honor killings were committed in a variety of ancient Islamic cultures.

In most cases, women have been the primary victims of honor killings and the perpetrators are generally male members of the victim's family. Honor killings typically involve careful planning and explicit threats leading up to the murder and often involve participation by members of the extended family either in perpetrating or concealing evidence of the murder. However, honor killings, or honor-based violence, may occasionally occur in other situations, including murder or violence against individuals suspected of engaging in homosexual behavior. This category of crime has been identified most notably in Brazil and Argentina, where prohibitions against homosexual behavior are more pronounced than in Europe and North America.

Honor Killings Today

While most countries prohibit honor killings under laws governing more general instances of murder, the practice is socially condoned in a number of modern cultures and is legally sanctioned in some nations. According to the 2000 United Nations Population Fund, more than five thousand women each year are victims of honor killings, though some scholars believe that these figures do not accurately reflect the prevalence of honor killing because many instances are not reported to authorities. In some cases, police fail to identify a murder as an honor killing because family and extended members of the community aid the primary perpetrators in concealing the crime.

Amnesty International reported in 2010 that more than 647 women were the victims of honor killings in Pakistan in 2009, making Pakistan the country with the highest number of reported honor killings. In the 1990s, Jordan had the highest number of honor killings, with more than 25 percent of all murders having been classified as honor killings in 1997.

According to a 2011 Pew survey, 82 percent of Muslims in Egypt and Pakistan, 70 percent in Jordan, and 56 percent in Nigeria supported the stoning of people who had committed adultery. Syria legally sanctioned the murder of any female family member for inappropriate sexual acts until 2009, when new legislation passed prohibiting honor-based violence. In Syria, Iraq, and Iran, defending family honor is considered a mitigating circumstance and perpetrators are subject to reduced sentences, though honor killings are still classified as murder under Iraqi, Iranian, and Syrian laws.

Though most honor killings are committed by men, women have also been indicted for committing honor killings. In 2010, twenty-two-year-old Nirupama Pathak was allegedly killed by her mother in Delhi, India, after announcing her intentions to marry a man from a lower social caste and having become pregnant with the man's child. While Indian law grants no special considerations for honor killing, the process is still common in some rural areas and is sanctioned by caste-based community "courts," which are used to settle local disputes in some traditional Indian communities.

In the United States and Canada, high-profile honor killing cases in 2009 prompted a debate over the relationship between honor killing and Islamic culture. According to a 2009 article in the Middle East Quarterly, over 90 percent of honor killings in Europe and the United States are committed by Muslims against other Muslims. While cultural motivations appear to be the major factor motivating instances of honor killing, religious affiliation also plays an important role in many cases. For instance, in 2010, Gonay Ogmen was convicted in Turkey for murdering his sister and her husband, reportedly because the sister's husband was Muslim, while the family was Christian. In 2016, the murder of Pakistani model Qandeel Baloch drew international attention to honor killings; Baloch was murdered by her brother, who perceived her fame and social media presence to have brought shame to his family.

Some scholars and members of Islamic communities have objected to the use of the term "honor killing," claiming that this term has become politicized by those in North America and Europe who seek to persecute members of Islamic communities. Legal authorities in the United States, Canada, and Europe are debating whether honor killing should be classified as a distinct category of crime for the purposes of investigation and prosecution. Some argue that separating honor killings from other instances of murder heightens cultural prejudice and fear and that honor killings should therefore be treated as instances of premeditated murder and should be subject to existing laws and penalties.

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Bibliography

Books

Husseini, Rana. "The Historical and Religious Seeds of 'Honor.'" Abraham's Children: Liberty and Tolerance in an Age of Religious Conflict. Ed. Kelly James Clark. New Haven: Yale UP, 2012. Print.

Kinnear, Karen L. Women in Developing Countries: A Reference Handbook. Santa Barbara: ABC-Clio, 2011. Print.

Periodicals

Ali, Ayaan Hirsi. "Honor Killings in America." Atlantic. Atlantic Monthly Group, 30 Apr. 2015. Web. 15 Oct. 2015.

Caffaro, Federica, Federico Ferraris, and Susanna Schmidt. "Gender Differences in the Perception of Honour Killings in Individualist versus Collectivist Cultures: Comparison between Italy and Turkey." Sex Roles 71.9/10 (2014): 296–318. Print.

Chesler, Phyllis. "When Women Commit Honor Killings." Middle East Quarterly 22.4 (2015): 1–12. Academic Search Complete. Web. 15 Oct. 2015.

Chesler, Phyllis, and Nathan Bloom. "Hindu vs. Muslim Honor Killings." Middle East Quarterly 19.3 (2012): 43–52. Academic Search Complete. Web. 18 Feb. 2014.

Dogan, Recep. "Did the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 Get It Right? Are All Honour Killings Revenge Killings?" Punishment & Society 15.5 (2013): 488–514. Academic Search Complete. Web. 18 Feb. 2014.

Dogan, Recep. "Different Cultural Understandings of Honor That Inspire Killing: An Inquiry into the Defendant’s Perspective." Homicide Studies 18.4 (2014): 363–88. Print.

Gill, Aisha K, and Avtar Brah. "Interrogating Cultural Narratives about 'Honour'-Based Violence." European Journal of Women's Studies 21.1 (2014): 72–86. Academic Search Complete. Web. 18 Feb. 2014.

Rubin, Alissa J. "A Thin Line of Defense against ‘Honor Killings.’" New York Times. New York Times, 2 Mar. 2015. Web. 15 Oct. 2015.

Websites and Digital Files

Muhammad, Niaz, et al. "Honor Killing in Pakistan: An Islamic Perspective." Asian Social Science 8.10 (2012): 180–85. Academic Search Complete. Web. 18 Feb. 2014.

Muise, Monique. "Shafia Verdict Sparks Debate: Was it an Honor Killing, or Just Plain Murder?" Gazette. Postmedia Network, 30 Jan. 2012. Web. 28 August 2012.

Olwan, Dana M. "Gendered Violence, Cultural Otherness, and Honour Crimes in Canadian National Logics." Canadian Journal of Sociology 38.4 (2013): 533–55. Academic Search Complete. Web. 18 Feb. 2014.

"Pakistani Model Qandeel Baloch Killed by Brother after Friends' Taunts." Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 27 July 2016. Web. 29 Sept. 2016.

Prochazka, Susanne J. "There Is No Honor in Honor Killings: Why Women at Risk for Defying Sociosexual Norms Must Be Considered a ‘Particular Social Group’ Under Asylum Law." Thomas Jefferson Law Review 34.2 (2012): 445–503. Academic Search Complete. Web. 18 Feb. 2014.

Siemaszko, Casey. "Southern Poverty Law Center Lists Anti-Islamic Blogger Pamela Geller, Followers a Hate Group." New York Daily News. NYDailyNews.com. 25 Feb. 2011. Web. 28 Aug. 2012.

"Stoning Adulterers." Pew Research Center. Pew Research Center, 18 Jan. 2011. Web. 29 Sept. 2016.

"Thousands of Honor Attacks in Britain Last Year." Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group, 3 Dec. 2011. Web. 28 Aug. 2012.