Honor Killings

Honor killings involve the murder of female family members, usually by brothers or fathers, in retaliation for allegations of premarital or [Page 579]extramarital sex, for refusing an arranged marriage, or for attempting to obtain a divorce. Honor killings reflect crimes and violence against thousands of women every year all over the globe.

The practice is most frequently found in traditional, male-dominated societies primarily in communities in the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East, the Indian subcontinent, and sub-Saharan Africa. Such killings take place when male family members feel their power or status in the family has been threatened and are condoned by the following reasoning. First, any sexual relationship of women outside of marriage is considered a shame and sullying of the woman's honor. Second, that honor is the property of the primary male family member and not of the woman herself. Third, women in the family bear immediate and full responsibility for preserving family honor, even against their will and, therefore, deserve the maximum physical penalty when family honor is not maintained.

The murder of females in the Middle East is an ancient tradition. Prior to the arrival of Islam in 622 C.E, Arabs occasionally buried infant daughters to avoid the possibility that they would later bring shame to the family. This practice continued through the centuries. It may still occur today among Bedouins, who consider girls most likely to sully the family honor. Currently, several thousand women a year are victims of honor killings carried out for a wide range of offenses: marital infidelity, refusing an arranged marriage, asking for a divorce, having premarital sex, flirting, wanting to go to college, or even having been raped. Unusual cases include the husband who murdered his wife based on a dream that she betrayed him; the Turkish father who slit his daughter's throat in the town square because a love ballad had been dedicated to her over the radio; or the 16-year-old mentally retarded girl who was raped in Pakistan and found guilty of dishonoring the tribe. Numerous murders are ruled an accident, suicide, or family dispute, if they are reported at all. Police and government officials are often bribed to ignore crimes and to hinder investigations. A woman beaten, burned, strangled, shot, or stabbed to death is often ruled a suicide, even when there are multiple wounds. Many women are buried in unmarked graves, as their existence is supposed to be removed from the community, even after death.

Patriarchy and Honor Codes

The problem of honor killings is not a problem of morality or of ensuring that women maintain their own personal virtue; rather, it is a problem of domination, power, and hatred of women who, in these instances, are viewed as nothing more than servants to the family, both physically and symbolically. Patriarchal systems privilege a male point of view. In such societies, actions that challenge men's sense of control and status will be punished. Honor killings are based on the assumption that women themselves are powerful and dangerous beings. All sexual institutions, such as polygamy, repudiation, and sexual segregation, can be viewed as strategies for containing such female power.

...