Forms of violence: **Honour killings**

What are honour killings?

Honour killings describe the murder of a female family member because she is believed to have brought shame on the family. Maintaining the honour of a family is seen as the responsibility of its female members, and killings may be carried out, for example, because a girl/woman has been raped, assaulted, because she is suspected of losing her virginity, or because she has refused to marry a person of the family’s choosing. Honour killings frequently attract the attention of human rights groups, as well as the international media. Human Rights Watch (HRW, 2004: 1).  says that it is “the most extreme form of domestic violence, a crime based on male privilege and prerogative and women’s subordinate social status. Although the absolute number of murders is not high (though the numbers are very likely underreported), the effects are felt throughout society.” 

In Pakistan, according to human rights organisations there were more than 1,200 cases of honour killings in 2003 alone (UNVC, 2006). They also occur in Jordan, India, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Turkey, Iraq, Afghanistan, and in countries with populations originally from Asia and the Middle East. According to the UN Study on Violence Against Children, 12 honour killings occur in the United Kingdom each year, and “these deaths are thought to represent only the extreme end of a much larger problem of intimidation and violence” (UNVC, 2006: 56). Moreover, lenient sentences may be imposed for honour killings when compared with other homicides, or perpetrators may even be exonerated.

The UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women has in the past investigated reports of honour killings. The Rapporteur (there have been three mandate holders since 1994) transmits urgent appeals and communications to States regarding alleged cases of violence, undertakes fact-finding country visits and submits annual thematic reports. Find out more here. 

The UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial Executions has also addressed the issue here. The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights has produced a factsheet on ‘harmful traditional practices’, which include honour killings.

How can they be stopped?

 The Committee on the Rights of the Child has made a number of recommendations to States in respect of honour killings. For example, in 2009, in its Concluding Observations to Pakistan, the Committee welcomed the 2004 amendment to the Penal Code that facilitates the prosecution of perpetrators of honour killings and prohibits “family compromises”. Nonetheless, the Committee said it was “very concerned at the still widespread and increasing problem of honour killings that affect children both directly and indirectly, through their mothers, and which are routinely imposed by jirgas (parallel judicial systems) in the tribal areas” (para.37). The Committee recommended that the government (para. 38):

1. make every effort to reinforce protection of the right to life, survival and development of all children, inter alia, by taking effective measures to prevent honour killings, investigating thoroughly all alleged cases of killings, bringing perpetrators to justice, and by sanctioning all those who promote honour killings;
2. undertake public awareness-raising campaigns, also involving religious and community leaders, to effectively combat discriminatory societal attitudes and harmful traditions with respect to girls by demonstrating that discriminatory attitudes and practices are absolutely unacceptable;
3. provide special training and resources to law enforcement personnel with a view to protecting girls who are in danger of honour killings and to prosecuting such cases in a more effective way;
4. increase the number of accessible shelters and counselling services for women and girls who are victims or at the risk of honour crimes. 

States should also consider the risk of racist backlashes and cultural stereotyping when addressing the issue. The Committee has also made recommendations to, for example, Jordan (in 2006), Turkey (in 2001) and Albania (in 2005) on the issue of honour killings.

The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, which enforces the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, has also considered the issue of honour killings extensively. For more information, click here.

For more resources on honour killings, click here.  

References

Human Rights Watch (2004), ‘Honouring the Killers: Justice Denied for "Honour" Crimes in Jordan.’ Accessible here: http://www.hrw.org/en/reports/2004/04/19/honoring-killers

UN Study on Violence Against Children (2006). Accessible here:  http://www.unviolencestudy.org/