Honor Killings in the News

The problem with so-called “honor killings,” where a man kills a female relative in order to restore “honor” to his family because she has transgressed in some fashion, is being taken more seriously in both Europe and Pakistan. This is a hopeful sign that, someday, this ugly and barbaric practice could be ended.

The BBC reports on a meeting of police from several European countries in an effort to coordinate information and tactics:

They aim to set up a pan-European unit to combat the killings and crack down on related issues such as trafficking. Police are re-opening murder files related to families of Turkish, Middle Eastern, Asian, Arabic and Eastern European origin over the past 10 years. ... Police say some of the murders were carried out by contract killers hired by the families. They also believe that so-called "bounty hunters" were involved - people, including women, who make a business out of tracking down victims.

The police are concerned about the high proportion of honour killings which end in convictions for manslaughter rather than murder, the BBC's crime correspondent Neil Bennett reports from The Hague. The police have urged the government to investigate possible loopholes in the law - and the move has been widely supported by crime experts. "There has to be real commitment to bring to justice those who perpetrate such heinous crimes," said Dr Asia Gill, who advises Scotland Yard on the issue.

The idea of women accepting “contracts” to hunt down and kill other women in cold blood merely because they chose to date or marry the “wrong” man is absolutely disgusting. There are no words adequate to describe the utter senselessness and inhumanity of such a situation.

The BBC also reports that more than 100 murders in England and Wales from the past 10 years are being re-examined:

Detectives are not reopening the cases but hope to learn more about the scale and nature of the phenomenon. ... Diana Nammi, director of the International Campaign Against Honour Killing, said: "I believe these killings are more widespread than official figures suggest. We need to stop these murders and this move by the police is very positive." Ram Gidoomal, of the South Asian Development Partnership, called for police to work alongside social services to prevent killings.

He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "I would like to see what action has been taken already - it is not as if we have just been made aware of this issue. Everyone needs to be educated to look out for early warning singles. All agencies need to share information."

It’s a pity that none of the cases are actually being reopened because that means that many brutal killers may continue to walk around free, full of so-called “honor” because they murdered an innocent woman.

Even Pakistan is starting to move against the practice:

Pakistan has decided to treat as murder the practice of 'karo-kari', or honour killings mostly carried out against women, reports Online news agency. ... The house was informed that 235 women had become victims of kitchen fires - a euphemism for brides being burnt by their in-laws - since Jan 2000 to April 2004.

Pakistan, Bangladesh, and northern India are the primary regions where these murders occur. They aren’t religious and there is no specific warrant for it in either Hinduism or Islam - Hindus and Muslims in other regions don’t do this sort of thing and regard it in much the same shock and horror as the rest of us. It is a cultural practice from a very specific region and one which needs to be wiped out as soon as possible.

Read More:

• Religion in Pakistan