The Crimes of Honour: A Sociological and Legal Analysis of the Phenomenon in Indian and Pakistani Society. Supriti Singh PhD candidate, Auckland University of Technology Word Count: 6100.
Table of Contents I. Introduction II. Understanding crimes of honour. III. A Legal and Sociological analysis of Honour crimes in Pakistan. IV. A Legal and Sociological 11 analysis of Honour 1 3 6 crimes in India. V. Approaches to dealing with Crimes of Honour. VI. Bibliography. 12 15 "Ghairat (what is sacred and inviolable) is Izzat (honour) and this comes with money and property. And if Izzat is violated- then it is justified to kill and die for honour." (Shah, 1998: 239) I. Introduction Honour killings and crimes have been documented the world over in different eras and as part of the culture and customs of various civilisations. Their existence can be traced back to texts such as the Code of Hammurabi of Babylon in 1790 which issued a death by drowning for adulterous couples (Rao 2012, x). The phenomenon was also witnessed in ancient Rome where male family members were persecuted by their male counterparts in society for not taking action against female adulterers in their respective families. The term 'crimes of honour' is used as an instrument whereby other acts of violence on which 'honour killings' are grounded are also recognized and included. Two common misconceptions about honour crimes is that they primarily occur only in Muslim dominated societies and against female relatives, however this positioning is incorrect, as it proven that honour crimes occur not only the world over but are either documented as domestic violence or categorised under the umbrella of crimes against women. As witnessed in Pakistan the practice of Karo-Kari in the Sindh province is prevalent and used against both male and females who according to societal norms have brought dishonour upon their respective families by their conduct (Khan 2012, x). The Special Rapporteur in her role recognised that the violence 1
against women is mostly connected to controlling their sexuality and the policing of their conduct (Coomaraswamy 2005, xi). The situation of crimes of honour is integral to the understanding of the concept and why the crime occurs; for the purpose of this paper however the author shall delve onto into the question of crimes of honour as directed against women. The term 'Crimes of honour' incorporate a range of violence as directed against women, which may include the murder of women in the name of honour, their illegal detention or assault. Herein lies the problem, that of the openly voiced "legitimization" which is directly credited to a social order that exists wherein it is required that the idea of "honour" vested in male domination over female family members, specifically over their sexual conduct. 4 The factors that contribute to the occurrence of such crimes are multiple and intertwined but in order to gain a clearer perspective it is essential to undertake an investigation into each of those factors. The challenge with situating crimes of