Honor killing
An honor killing or honour killing is generally a punitive murder, committed by members of a family against a female member of their family whom the family and/or wider community believes to have brought dishonor upon the family. A woman is usually targeted for: refusing an arranged marriage, being the victim of a sexual assault, seeking a divorce ? even from an abusive husband ? or committing adultery or fornication. These killings result from the perception that any behavior of a woman that "dishonors" her family is justification for a killing that would otherwise be deemed murder.
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Locations
As of 2004, honor killings have occurred within parts of various countries, such as Albania, Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Ecuador, Germany, India, Iraq, Israel (within the Arab, Druze and Bedouin communities), Italy, Pakistan, Punjab, the Palestinian territories, Saudi Arabia, Sweden, Uganda, United Kingdom and the United States.
According to the UN:
"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, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Pakistan, Punjab, the Syrian Arab Republic, Turkey, Yemen, and other Mediterranean and Persian Gulf countries, and that they had also taken place in such countries as France, Germany and the United Kingdom, within migrant communities."
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 honor killings" between 2004 and 2005. Given the geopolitical politics dominant today, the practice of honor killing is associated in the West with certain Muslim cultures and the peoples influenced by those cultures. Honor killings are more common among poor rural communities than urban ones. Christians living within parts of Africa and the Near East, such as sections of Egypt, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority, sometimes carry out the crime[citation needed], as well as some men from some Muslim communities. While violence and discrimination against women is unfortunately widespread across the globe, it is well established that social inequality is a participatory factor. There is a strong positive correlation between women's social power and a baseline of development, associated with access to basic resources, health care, and human capital, such as literacy. In some locations, attacks or killings have been perpetrated against women by individuals who are not close relatives, often in the context of enforcement of religiously-sanctioned social requirements such as wearing hijab or engaging in more open interaction with unrelated males. One example is the current trend in the Iraqi city of Basra, where authorities report that around 15 female corpses are discovered monthly; the victims are believed to have been killed by groups who seek to enforce sanctioned behavior on women.
UNICEF has reported that in India, more than 5,000 brides are killed annually because their marriage dowries are considered insufficient. Widney Brown, advocacy director for Human Rights Watch, says that these killings are similar to the killings in countries where Islam is practiced, because they have a similar dynamic in that the women are killed by male family members and the crimes are perceived as excusable or understandable.
Every year in the UK, about 13 women are victims of honor killing and often cases are unresolved due to the unwillingness of family, relatives and communities to testify. A 2006 BBC poll for the Asian network found that 1 in 10 young Asians polled said that they could condone the murder of someone who supposedly dishonored their family. The poll surveyed more than 500 young British Asians, of the Sikh, Hindu, Muslim and Christian faiths.
Many cases of honor killings have been reported in Pakistan. During the year 2002 in Pakistan about four hundred people (men & women) were killed in the name of (Karo-Kari) in Sindh Out of 382 (245 women, 137 men). The phenomenon of the killing in the name of honor has direct relevance to the illiteracy rate, as these killings are more common in the areas where the literacy rate is lower. According to a report issued by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), Jacobabad District ranked first in terms of murder in the name of Karo Kari (66 women, 25 men). Jacobabad district has a literacy rate of 23.66, the least literate district of Sindh after Tharparkar District, and Thatta District. After Jacobabad, the Ghotki District witnessed the highest number of murders in the name of Karo Kari (13 men, 54 women). After Ghotki, Larkana is the district with the next highest murder rate in the name of Karo Kari (24 men, 38 women). Larkana as well, has a low literacy rate of 34.95. This is lower than even Naushahro Feroze District, Dadu District, and Khairpur District, having 39.14, 35.56 and 35.50 percent literacy rates respectively. These districts of the upper Sindh have low literacy rates but high feudal influence in every walk of life. Jacobabad, Ghotki and Larkana are those districts of Sindh where not only the illiterate, but tribal chieftains are also present in large numbers. According to a report released by the HRCP, the cases of Karo Kari are mostly settled at jirgas, the private and parallel judicial system of Chieftains. However, districts of lower parts of Sindh like Tharparkar, Badin, and Thatta experience nominal occurrences of honor killings because they have a lower amount of feudal influence there.
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