HONOUR KILLING

HONOUR KILLING

Honour killing is the killing of a member of a family by other members who believe that the victim has brought dishonour to the family. The perpetrators believe that the victim’s action have brought shame upon the family or has violated the principles of the religion or those of the community. Some of the reasons for killing the victim may be; refusing to enter an arranged marriage, having sex outside marriage, being in a sexual relationship that is disapproved by the family, dressing in ways that are deemed promiscuous, becoming a victim of rape, renouncing faith or engaging in non-heterosexual relations.

Origins of honour killings

The act of honour killing has been known since ancient Roman times. The senior male within a household had the right to kill an adulterous wife or unmarried but sexually active daughter. In medieval Europe, early Jewish law mandated death by stoning an adulterous wife and her partner. Nowadays this practice is commonly associated with the Middle East. Under ottoman rule in Arab countries, a killer would sprinkle his victim’s blood on his clothes and display them in the streets together with the bloody weapons to increase honour. Honour based violence is not new to any religion or community worldwide. In Britain for instance, the fifth wife of Henry VIII was killed by beheading due to adultery allegations. Juliet and Romeo tracked an ancient family feud over honour. Machismo is often described as a code of honour in Brazil and parts of Latin America.

Methods of honour killing

The following are the most popular methods of honour killing that may be performed publicly to warn people of possible consequences if they were to engage in the victim’s acts; Hanging, Burning, Beating, Stoning, Stabbing, Beheading, Lethal acid attacks, Shooting and strangulation, Throat slashing

Honour killings by region

The following areas have recorded some of the highest honour killings;

·         South and Central Asia- India and Pakistan have recorded around 1000 per year rates of honour killings. In Afghanistan, honour killings remain high along with many other forms of violence

·         Middle East and North Africa- Middle East and Arab countries of North Africa have high recording level of honour killings. These regions have the formal law codes most likely to allocate reduced sentences to honour killings.

·         Europe and other Western countries- countries like Chechnya and Albania have recorded cases of honour killings. Honour killings have been recorded within living memory within Mediterranean countries such as Greece and Italy.

The hand of laws in honour killing

Some legal frameworks can encourage honour killings. These laws may include; leniency towards such killing, criminalization of various behaviours such as indecent dressing, extramarital sex, homosexual acts. These laws may encourage the perpetrators to engage in honour killings believing that that the victims deserve the punishment given. For instance, in the Roman Empire the Roman law implemented by Augustus Caesar permitted the murder of the adulterous wife’s lover at the hand of her husband. In most cases, the law is to blame for honour killings.