Honor killing

Israa Ghrayeb, Banaz Mahmood, Shafilea Ahmed, Samia Shahid, and Said sisters... Behind all these names are tragic stories of women who were murdered gruesomely in cold blood, for reasons related to the so-called ''family honor''.

These women were victims of one of the deadliest traditions and cultural heritages in certain parts of the Middle East and South Asia.

Honor killings are crimes that are committed against girls and women by male family members. These murders are often motivated by the goal to cleanse the family’s honor and collective reputation, which has been ''ruined'' by the victim’s violation of societal morals and norms -that control her sexuality-, by allegedly engaging in sexually ''immoral'' actions; From defying society's rules on dress, openly conversing with an unrelated man, refusing an arranged marriage, having pre-marital sex or having a child out of wedlock, to being a rape victim. In many countries, women are symbols of the family's honor, and the preservation of a woman's body and ''purity'' is considered a male's duty, which gives him every right to control, punish, and sometimes kill.

A glimpse into the past

Honor-based violence is not a recent matter, its roots go back to Roman times, when “pater familias”, or the male head of the family, had the right to murder his adulterous wife or his daughter if she was sexually active. In a speech called ''On the Dowry'', by the Roman historian Marcus Porcius Cato, he says:

‘‘ If you catch your wife in adultery, you can kill her with impunity; she, however, cannot dare to lay a finger on you if you commit adultery, for it is the law.’’

Rape victims were also associated with honor killings. Ancient Romans believed that a woman who had been raped is impure and would never be able to restore her honor and therefore had to be killed. Gnaeus Plancius was a well-known politician and one of the most powerful men in Rome, he was accused of raping and torturing a 12-year-old girl. Plancius was defended by the philosopher and lawyer Marcus Tullius Cicero, who also glorified honor killings. In -a male-dominated- court, Cicero said that the crime is nothing but a ''well-established tradition at staged events''. The courtroom agreed and Plancius was never convicted. In his Socratic dialogue, ''De Finibus Bonorum Et Malorum'', Cicero considers men who kill rape victims as heroes. He wrote:

In our commonwealth was found the lady who expiated her outraged honor by a self-sought death and the father who killed his daughter to save her from shame. Who is there who cannot see that all these deeds and countless others besides were done by men who were inspired by the splendor of moral greatness to forget all thought of interest, and are praised by us from no other consideration but that of Moral Worth?

Romanino, The Death of Verginia

The rape of a married woman was considered adultery in the code of Hammurabi. The woman was held equally responsible and sentenced to death. Both the rapist's and the victims' deaths were by drowning. The Hebrews also held the woman accountable if she was raped inside the city, where she could have asked and cried for help. The punishment was stoning to death along with the rapist. 

Religious or cultural?

Islam, Christianity, Judaism, and Hinduism all have a history of honor-based violence, but the main reason is not religion itself, it's the influence of the patriarchal culture on it. Even-though religions forbid such crimes, they continue to occur in some communities, the majority of which practice Islam. Islam has always been definite about the prohibition of murder without legal justification. According to some imams, honor killings have more to do with pre-Islamic cultural traditions than with Islam, for there is not a single verse in the Quran that excuses these crimes.

In her book, ''A Family Conspiracy: Honor Killing'', Phyllis Chesler discusses the nature of honor killings which she regards as barbaric tribal customs. She accuses Hinduism, Sikhism, and Islam of failing to condemn such atrocities as crimes against God and humanity.

Chesler believes that honor killings and gender apartheid are both parts of a shame-and-honor tribal culture. Neither cultural relativism nor political correctness can justify this violation of human rights. As long as tribal groups overcast or deny the issue, women will continue to be killed for honor, while governments and law enforcement officials accept their distorted versions of reality.

These crimes remain largely unreported. According to The United Nations, the majority of the 5,000 honor killings reported each year around the world don't make the news, nor do the many other forms of violence committed against women and girls by husbands, fathers, sons, brothers, uncles -and sometimes even female- family members.

To this day, honor killings continue to take place in several countries. Women are killed as a form of redemption for the ''disgrace'' they have brought on their families, but the real disgrace lies in a person taking another's life because of their own choices, under the pretext of honor.

Many untold stories of women who paid an awful price at the hands of their closest relatives. Indeed, some of them didn't receive justice, but history will always remember them as free souls that chose freedom over fear.