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.
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