Trigger warning: this article discusses a violent tradition.
“Killing females in the name of honor expresses a despotic society dominated by arbitrary culture.” – Khaled Hishma
What Are “Honor Killings”?
An honor killing (or shame killing) is the murder of an individual, either an outsider or a member of a family, by someone seeking to protect what they see as the dignity and honor of their family. Religion is often a motive, and those killed will often be more liberal than the murderer rather than genuinely “dishonorable”. Most often, it involves the murder of a woman or girl by male family members due to the perpetrators’ belief that the victim has brought dishonor or shame upon the family name, reputation, or prestige.
Understanding Honor Killings
To understand why honor killings occur, we need to comprehend the importance of reputation in societies known as honor cultures. In an honor culture, reputation management is perhaps the most important social ethic there is, superseding all other values. Men in honor cultures are encouraged to seek reputations for being tough and intolerant of disrespect, whereas women are encouraged to seek reputations for being loyal to family and sexually chaste. If someone insults your honor, you must respond – typically in an aggressive or even violent manner – or you risk incurring the stain of dishonor. Dishonor remains like blood on white linen. It does not come out easily and might never be completely removed. This is why being dishonored in an honor culture is often considered a fate worse than death. To make matters worse, the honor of an individual is intimately connected with his or her family members, as well as with the broader community. As a consequence, the dishonor of one person can stain many others. This is what drives the people in such cultures to engage in honor killings.
Honor killings are often a result of strongly misogynistic views towards women and the position of women in society. In these traditionally male-dominated societies, women are dependent first on their father and then on their husbands, whom they are expected to obey. Even though it may be referred to as an “honor killing”, there is absolutely no “honor” in killing.