Patriarchal Violence in the Name of 'Honour'

• NCJ Number: 222932
• Journal: International Journal of Criminal Justice Sciences Volume: 1 Issue: 1 Dated: January 2006 Pages: 1-12
• Author(s): Aisha Gill
• Date Published: January 2006
• Length: 12 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Case Study
• Language: English
• Country: India
• Note: Downloaded June 24, 2008

Annotation

After explaining how women's violation or challenging of cultural concepts of family and community can result in so-called honor-based violence against them, this paper highlights a number of recent high-profile honor crimes in the United Kingdom.

Abstract

Honor-based violence is a common occurrence within a variety of cultures and communities. Although the media, in covering such violence, has tended to focus on honor killing as the most extreme form of honor violence, other manifestations are early and forced marriage; sisters and daughters being sold into slavery; mutilation; and the deprivation of freedom, education, or friendship. This violence is intended as a deterrent against cultural values that define family/community honor. The victims are predominately female, and the perpetrators are usually male relatives. In placing such honor crimes within the sphere of cultural and family values, they have remained largely outside the scope of human rights mandates and legislative reform. A number of recent high-profile court cases of honor killings have attracted media attention in the United Kingdom. The media has focused on cultural values and norms that contributed to these killings, leading to public discourse that has been simplistic, sensational, and stigmatizing of the ethnic and religious groups that support honor-based violence. This paper advocates international standards for universal human rights that apply to women across cultures; however, such standards should be sensitive to the context in which they are applied. This requires dialog with leaders in minority cultural communities in order to identify areas of cultural conflict. These leaders must understand that cultural survival within a host mainstream culture depends, in part, on the minority community's ability to adapt to the core values of the larger community. 33 references