Honor-based violence (HBV) is a crime committed to protect or defend the honor of a family and/or a community. It is usually triggered by the victim‘s behavior, which the family and/or community regards as causing offense or dishonor. HBV has existed for thousands of years but has only very recently become a focus of law enforcement, policy makers,

Honor related violence is generally associated with crimes committed by people from the Middle East and adjacent areas. Perpetrators sometimes justify their deeds saying they ¿had to¿ restore their honor. Theorists have argued that men from these populations exclusively correlate honor with the behaviour of their womenfolk, which they use as a pretext to further oppress and dominate women. Due to large-scale migration, western societies have become acquainted with honor related violence and honor killings. In this book, Robert Ermers addresses a number of questions related to honor related violence, including the use of predominantly negative frames regarding the cultural and social background of non-westerners and immigrants. In many publications, including the press, crimes committed by non-western individuals are often attributed to their cultural background rather than specific contexts or circumstances, in contrast to western cases. Vague and insufficiently defined concepts such as ¿honor¿ and ¿culture¿ strongly contribute to this bias. Honor Related Violence deals with honor and honor related violence, their background and contexts, what honor is, and what it is not. It examines stigma in relation to honor and based upon stigma research, reliably explains, analyses, and predicts honor related violence. The book argues that people all over the world can be stigmatized, excluded and ostracized when they commit misbehavior, and therefore find themselves in a state of dishonor which can lead to honor related violence. A timely intervention into the psychology of honor related violence, this is an essential resource for students and researchers in the fields of social psychology, sociology, law, criminology and anthropology.

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.

Honour based violence and abuse manifests itself in different forms, and this book offers a comprehensive understanding of this phenomenon. This book argues that the limits of honour crimes must be defined more widely so that they include conducts and behaviours that originate from the patriarchal notion of honour, such as honour based oppression and breast ironing. The book provides a critical analysis and synthesis of the law in England and Wales and in the international human rights sphere. The relevant domestic legislation and cases are examined to reflect on whether adequate protection is provided for the victims and potential victims of honour based violence and abuse. Since honour based violence is a violation of human rights, the relevant international human rights law is examined to illustrate the perception of such crimes in the international arena. The effectiveness of any remedy for victims of honour based violence and abuse depends on its capability to change deep rooted behaviours in communities with honour based patriarchal values. This book argues that the law does not provide the effective impact required, in part due to patriarchal structures, and that more efforts should be dedicated to changes in education. It is held that there is a need for an educational programme that is especially designed to tackle violence and promote gender equality. The book will be essential reading for academics, researchers and policy-makers working in the areas of Human Rights Law, Criminal Law and Gender Studies.

The practice of karo kari allows family, especially fathers, brothers and sons, to take the lives of their daughters, sisters and mothers if they are accused of adultery. This volume examines the central position of karo kari in the social, political and juridical structures in Upper Sindh, Pakistan. Drawing connections between local contests over marriage and resources, Nafisa Shah unearths deep historical processes and power relations. In particular, she explores how the state justice system and informal mediations inform each other in state responses to karo kari, and how modern law is implicated in this seemingly ancient cultural practice.

Honour killing, as it is widely understood, is the cold-blooded murder of a woman or a man involved with her, by the male members of her household in order to cleanse the reputation of the family, clan, community or tribe. This violent tradition in the name of religion, custom and culture continues to be carried out in a significantly large part of the world. The majority of people still believe that honour killings happen for reasons such as marriage from choice or a love affair of a kinswoman, rape, a demand for divorce from a woman, or the birth of a female child, all of which are perceived as bringing shame on the family. However, current research on honour killing suggests that there are a number of intriguing and very cleverly knitted plots of jealousy, greed, violence and murder which show that, in the name of honour, various other purposes are being served and people are killed in ways which give the impression that they are honour killings. By collecting data from people involved in such situations, this book opens a Pandora’s box, showing that such killings are carried out not to assuage the hurt honour of a patriarchal society, but to serve a variety of malign intentions, goals and agendas. It will serve to let the world comprehend the phenomenon of honour-related violence where culture and crime unite under the umbrella of highly discriminating laws against women. This book consists of twenty-six testimonies from those involved in honour killings, bringing together interviews with killers, victims and the falsely accused.

In this interdisciplinary collection leading experts and scholars from criminology, psychology, law and history provide a compelling analysis of practices and beliefs that lead to violence against women, men and children in the name 'honour'.