This book examines violence against women in the name of honor in Iraqi Kurdistan, taking an intersectional perspective. It reveals the links between destructive, state-sanctioned honor discourse and notions of manhood as they are shaped by a resistance culture dedicated to the struggle against ethnic oppression.

This book examines violence against women in the name of honor in Iraqi Kurdistan, taking an intersectional perspective. It reveals the links between destructive, state-sanctioned honor discourse and notions of manhood as they are shaped by a resistance culture dedicated to the struggle against ethnic oppression.

’Honour'-based violence is a form of intimate violence committed against women (and some men) by husbands, fathers, brothers and male relatives. A very common social phenomenon, it has existed throughout history and in a wide variety of societies across the world, from white European to African cultures, from South and East Asia to Latin America. The most extreme form of Honour-based violence - 'honour' killing - tragically remains widespread. Over the last decade, national and international efforts, including new policy development and activist campaigns, have begun to challenge the practice. Based on a pioneering and unique study, conducted collaboratively by the Centre for Gender and Violence Research, University of Bristol, the University of Roehampton and Kurdish Women's Rights Watch, this book is at the forefront of this new and challenging policy direction.

'Honor' crimes target women and girls for transgressions against the moral code of the community, punishing female sexual autonomy in particular. This book argues that 'honor' represents women's conformity to culturally-enforced standards of marriageability and underpins family and marital connections which form a primary method of organization within the community.

"Honor killing, also referred to as 'honor'-based violence, takes great prominence in organizing social life through structures of kinship and marriage as well as influencing legislation that allows the perpetrator to be forgiven by another family member. How can such violence so heavily embedded into Muslim society be removed? Joanne Payton, in 'Honor' and the Political Economy of Marriage, suggests that the crimes must be identified as cultural or else efforts to change the meaning of 'honor' through education and cultural change will fail to address the structural violence embedded within kinship structures. The symbolic meaning of women's and family 'honor' cannot be changed without alterations in the expectations of kinship and gender roles. By using online surveys and questionnaires, Payton was able to elicit clear evidence that 'honor'-based violence shapes the family structure as a place for domestic violence. She suggests for reform on systems of family law and the championing women's bodily sovereignty as means to end honor killing"--

This volume brings together the practical insights and experiences of individuals and organisations working in diverse regions and contexts to combat 'crimes of honour'. Authors examine strategies of response to such manifestations of violence against women, focusing largely on 'honour killings' and interference with the right to choice in marriage, and the related use and legal treatment of the defence of 'honour' and 'provocation' in different countries of Europe, the Middle East, Latin America and South Asia. This timely volume is distinctive in approach and content, highlighting activist and practice-orientated academic perspectives from both the South and the North. The authors give voice to the struggle to locate 'crimes of honour' firmly within the international framework of violence against women and human rights, rather than positioning these abuses as specific to particular cultures or communities. The first of its kind, this book serves as a resource in addressing 'honour crimes' and, more broadly, violence against women, and will be of interest to a multi-disciplinary academic audience as well as to lawyers, policy-makers and activists.