Honor killings – the fear of being murdered by your own family
Author: Tharni Vasavan
An honor (honour) killing is when someone is thought to have brought shame on his/her family or community and so are murdered by a family member in order to restore or preserve honor. Such acts are usually perpetrated by fathers/uncles to daughters over incidents such as marrying without the consent of parents, adultery, asking for divorce, being the victim of sexual assault, having sex before marriage or refusing to enter into an arranged marriage. However, honor killings have happened for much less, for example for leaving the house without permission and listening to loud music.
Sometimes, elders of the family will ask young boys to contribute to the killing in order for them to be accused as a minor instead of an adult. Prior to the killing, the victim will often suffer lengthy physical and emotional abuse in an attempt to manipulate the victim into obeying family orders. An honor killing is often reported to the police as a single act of rage in response to disapproved behaviour, however it is more likely to have been planned in advance by several family members.
Over 5,000 honor killings are reported worldwide every year, of these 85% are women and 2,000 occur in India and Pakistan.
According to statistics, the incidence of honor based crimes is on the rise every year. When you bear in mind that many of these crimes go unreported, the figures really are startling. What is even more startling is that people who commit honor killings are unlikely to be imprisoned for their crimes in certain countries, one of which includes Pakistan.
So why do so many murderers escape punishment in Pakistan? Under Sharia law, family members who commit honor killings are allowed to escape punishment if the victim’s next of kin grants them forgiveness. For example, a father is allowed to murder his daughter in an honor based killing if her immediate relatives forgive the crime. In this year’s academy award nominated documentary “A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness” directed by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, the story of Saba Qaiser (pictured) is told. 19 year old Saba married without her family’s consent and was subsequently shot in the head by her uncle and father, narrowly missing death due to turning her head as it happened. She was bundled in a hessian sack and thrown in a river, but somehow managed to escape and went to the police. Though her father and uncle were arrested, they were soon after released as Saba was forced to grant them forgiveness by her family and community. Saba’s father maintains that he did the right thing as his position in his community improved; he is now more respected and his other daughters have received good marriage proposals.
Herein lies the problem, honor killings are not considered a serious crime by their perpetrators due to a low risk of imprisonment and the promise of respect or even reward from the surrounding community. In a recent screening of the documentary, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif promised that the Sharia based law that enables crimes in the name of honor will be changed as soon as possible and killings will no longer be allowed forgiveness by family members. This is thought to be a huge step towards eradicating honor killings, due to the fear of punishment and the fact that imprisonment will not be seen as favourable or respectful to rural communities. However, it has been reported that even extending the sentence for committing an honor based crime has led to an increase in female suicides i.e. either family members coerce victims into killing themselves or stage the murders as suicides to escape punishment.
In the UK, it is approximated that a dozen killings occur each year. It has been said that there is a fear in Western countries of properly prosecuting killers and making laws to prevent honor based violence due to being labelled as ‘culturally insensitive’, however it is universally acknowledged by those who advocate human rights that this in an abhorrent crime and requires a fitting punishment. As honor killings are often tied to forced marriages, the UK has introduced a law where a person convicted of instigating a forced marriage will be jailed for 2 years.
Ensuring stringent laws and punishment for honor killings is not only about seeking redemption for the thousands of women and men killed for honor purposes, but to incite fear in the communities that still believe killing for dishonorable behaviour is the respectable thing to do. It is about changing the perception that males are the one who build up and maintain honor, whilst females are the ones with the ability to destroy it. It is about changing the belief that men are allowed to control the sexual relations of the females in their family and community. As with practises such as FGM, there is no original religious text that condones honor killings. This is a problem based on what is thought to be valid under the guise of religion, maintenance of outdated cultural belief, family dynamics and social behaviour in communities.
Read more:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/honourcrimes/crimesofhonour_1.shtml
Image credit: Yaqoob Shahzad/Reuters
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