ARTICLE 7 and 14 January 2006 Honour Killings URSULA SMARTT* The Scope and Dimensions of the and/ortheirboyfriends,whohaveharmedorsoiledthe Problem girl’sghairat(familyhonour).Awomancanbetargeted byherfamilyforavarietyofreasonsincluding,refusing heUnitedNationsPopulationFundestimatesthat toenterintoanarrangedmarriage,beingthevictimofa 5,000 women are killed in the name of honour sexualassault,seekingadivorce–evenfromanabusive Teach year, mainly in the Middle East and Asia. husband–orcommittingadultery.Themereperception It is impossible to know the exact statistics and how thatawomanhasactedinamannertobring“dishonour” widespreadhonourcrimesarearoundtheworld.Oneof to the family is sufficient to trigger an attack. Honour themainreasonsisthatreportingstothepolicearerare killingscanalsotargetthosewhochooseasboyfriends, andsporadic,withwidespreadfamilycoverup,including loversorspousesmembersofanotherreligiousorethnic those by mothers or women from the community. The groupotherthanthefamily’sown. fewreportedcasesofhonourkillingsinEuropehavebeen Thisthenleadsustothequestion:aretoday’sMuslim amongst Muslim or migrant Muslim communities. The women,livinginWesternsocietiesregardedas“equal” problemarisesparticularlyamongstwomenwithinAsian, withintheirfamily?Asweincreasinglylearnofhonour TurkishorKurdishcommunitieslivingintheWestwho killingsinthemedia,lawenforcementagenciesandthe increasinglyfacepressureoverhonour,repeatedlyusedin criminalcourtsareforcedtoaddresshowMuslimwomen forcedmarriages.Theresultsarecasesofabductionwhere aresubjectedtocustomarynormsandvaluesathome,and youngwomensimplydisappearbutareneverreportedas howhonourkillingsarepracticedinordertowipeaway missing. theshamethewomanmayhavebroughtonherfamilyby committingadulteryortransgressingfamilialnormsand What are Honour Killings? customs.Malecontrolwithinmarriageandsexualrelations AmnestyInternationalhasdealtwiththistopicforsome iscrucialandwomenwhowishtochallengesuchcustoms time,anddefineshonourkillingasusuallycommittedby areoftenkilledorareevenmadetopaycompensationto malefamilymembersagainstafemalerelative,whenthey theinjuredparty. believeshehasbroughtshameonthefamily.InMuslim traditions, family honour is defined as an entire social Are Honour Crimes a Form of behaviouralcodeimposedonwomenforthepurposeof enforcingtheirinferiorityandpreservingmalesupremacy. Domestic Violence? Although the number of women killed in the name of Inmostdomesticviolencecases,womenexperienceabuse “honour”remainslargelyhiddenfromWesternEuropean by husbands or partners; though there are increases officialstatistics,anecdotalandmediareportsindicatean in women physically abusing men or elderly relatives. annualriseinsuchkillings.Honourcrimespunishwomen Domestic violence is commonly described as a form of whohavetakenontheirowndecisionsin“Western”style emotional and/or psychological abuse often over many whentheyaresupposedtoobeytheirfamilyeldersandthe years. There is now largely a community awareness in malegeneration.Itisthefactthatfemalevictimsarenot Western civilizations regarding domestic violence and onlyabusedbytheirprospectivepartners,butareisolated its consequences. One commonality that links domestic and punished by the whole community, and prohibited violencewithhonourcrimesisthefactthatculturalvalues frommeetingotherpeopleandfriends.Wearetherefore coexistwithinthenormsofanewsocietythatthefemale notawareofthestrategiesthatthesewomenemployin victimsarelivingin.InmaledominatedMuslimsocieties ordertocombatfamilyabuseorthestepstheyhavetaken livingintheWest,thereappearstobeacommoncultural tobecomeindependentfromtheirabusers.Manygointo expectationofsilentendurancefromthewoman.Marital hidingoradoptnewidentities. conflictsorpre-nuptialrelationshipsareseenasintensely Crimesofhonourcomprisecomplexandbrutalreactions privatefamilymatters,wherethefamilyperceivesthatthe within families largely of Asian and Middle Eastern womanhasbroughtshameanddishonourontheentire background(eg,Pakistani;Indian;Jordanian,Turkish,etc), familywhensheadopts“Western”stylebehavioursand resultinginformsofkillingorseriouslyharmingwomen feelings. Increasingly,victimsofdomesticviolenceareencouraged * JP, MA, MPhil is Magistrate in Ealing, West London. She is a bythepoliceandprosecutionagenciesalloverEuropeto Senior Lecturer at Law and Criminology at Thames Valley University, London. comeforwardandreporttheirabuse.Educationandpublic awareness programmes abound in respect of domestic violence. Not so with honour killings. Such incidences . Amnesty International. 1998.” Pakistan: No Progress on Women’s remain under-reported and largely under-investigated. Rights”, September 998, AI Index: ASA 33/3/98. Canwethereforeexplainorevenjustifyhonourcrimesas of JUSTICE the PEACE Volume 170 JP and .indd 4 9//06 3:07:5 ARTICLE 7 and 14 January 2006 merelyareligiousissue?Notreally.Centraltothenotion minister at the time, stated that the Bill would not go ofhonourkillingistheideathatdeathcanexpungeastain, farenoughtoprotectfemalevictimsandthedefenceof especiallyifaccomplishedquickly. provocationwouldremainwherethewomanwasperceived One of the main factors that distinguish honour toblemishherfamily’stribalhonour. crimesfromcustomarydomesticviolenceisthatfemale TheJordanianPenalCodespecificallyacceptsthatthe familymembersorcommunityfemaleeldersoftenplaya “purifying”ofawrongtoatribeisnecessary.33Honour substantialpartineitherinstigatingorcoveringupsuch killingsrarelyreachthecourtsandiftheydo,sentences crimes.Hereinliesthemaindifferencebetweenhonour averagesixmonths(usuallyinvolvingthebrotherorfather crimesand“normal”domesticviolence:honourkillings ofthevictim).InspiteofJordan’sQueenRania’scampaign ofteninvolvethecollectivedecisionofthewholefamily, against honour crimes in her country, the Jordanian includingmothersorseniorcommunityfemales.Mothers Parliamentoverwhelminglyrejectedproposedlegislation oraunts,forinstance,condoneandevenencouragehonour tooutlawhonourkillingsinOctober 200.Thiswasthe crimes;theyhavereportedlyturnedablindeyetohonour secondtimethatharsherpunishmentlegislationhadbeen killings or tortures. Families then give their permission proposed,butconservativeIslamistsonceagainopposed for the use of domestic violence on their daughters, theBill,statingthattheproposednewlegislationwould becausewomenarethoughtofasacollectiveandnotan “encourageviceanddestroysocialorder”. individual. Honour killings address a deeper issue than UntilJune 2005,localTurkishJudgeshadthepowerto domesticviolencewherebyMuslimfamilieswhocometo handdownreducedsentencestoasmallnumberofhonour Westerncountriesareunpreparedforthechangedcultural killerswhowerecaught.However,sincetheintroductionof environment,andyoungpeople,especiallywomen,have anewTurkishPenalCode,designedtoconformtoEUlaw, realproblemstryingtocopewiththeclashoftwocultures. honourkillingshavebeenrecategorizedasmurderwitha MarriageswithinAsianfamiliestocousinsarestillthenorm, lifesentenceattached.5 andwomenwhogooutwithorevenmarrynon-Muslim Themainproblemforlawenforcementagenciesand menareviewedwithdisapprovalinthecommunity. legislatorsinWesternjurisdictions,wherehonourkillings occur,isthattheircriminallawrequiresthepunishment Honour Crimes and the Law oftheperpetrator.Theoffendersontheotherhand,seek Theconceptofhonourcrimesisacomplexlegalissue. adefenceandmitigationintheirculturaltradition.This DefendantsinWesterncriminalcourtstendtojustifytheir leavesWesternEuropeanlawenforcementagencieslargely actsinformofcustomarynormsandmoralconformity ignorantofdealingwiththeproblemoccurringontheir (of the woman). They seek mitigation on the grounds territories. Whilst Muslim-dominated states condone thatthemurderwascommittedasaconsequenceofthe honourkillings,suchcrimesfallwithinthecriminalcodes needtodefendorprotectthehonourofthefamily.The governinghomicideorseriousoffencesagainsttheperson doctrine of habeas corpus certainly does not exist in (eg,grievousbodilyharmwithintentunders.8Offences Islamistsocieties;therefore,awoman’srighttolibertyis AgainstthePersonAct86). notguaranteed.Honourcrimesdonotspecificallyfeature incriminallegislationofcountriesthatsanctionortolerate Honour Killings in the UK suchcrimes(eg,Pakistan,JordanorTurkey).Sharialaw Therehavebeen 12 reportedhonourkillingsintheUK doesnotspecificallymentionhonourkillingandIslamdoes since 2000,buttodate,onlyafewperpetratorshavebeen notsupportthedeathpenaltyformisconductrelatedto prosecuted.In 2003,London’sMetropolitanPolicesetupa honour.Yet,Sharialawprescribesseverepunishmentsfor specialisttaskforceunittoinvestigatehonourkillings.We zina(extramaritalsex)wherecertaincultures(eg,Northern havelearntthatBritishpoliceforcesarenowreinvestigating Nigeria) still recommend that premarital sex should be some 109casesofwomenwhoeitherdisappearedorwere punishedbyupto 100lashes,andadulteryispenalized saidtohavecommittedsuicide,andestimatethatthere withlethalstoning–initselfnotconsideredas“honour mightbeonehonourcrimepermonth.Thecasesmostly killing”. Islamiccourtstendtodealratherlenientlywith concernyoungBritishcitizenswhohavebeenbroughtup bailapplications. Pakistanicourts,forinstance,tendtofind“extenuating 3. Honour killings are permitted under Jordanian Law (Arts. 98; 340); circumstances”inhonourkillings,settingthethresholdon such killings are commonly carried out by a brother or father of the provocationasverylow.Usually,thedefenceofprovocation victim. 4. In August 2004, the Upper House, the Jordanian Senate, had upheld succeeds,anddefendantsareacquittediftheycanprove both Bills, after they were rejected by the Lower House. In October thatthewomaninquestionbroughtan“assaultonafamily