This article has been authored by Raghav Seghal , a second year student of Rajiv Gandhi National University of Law, Punjab.
Introduction
“The type of status assigned to women in any society reflects the nature of its cultural richness and the level of its civilization standards”
-Swami Vivekanand
Women, throughout the world, are vulnerable to unreasonable and arbitrary cultural norms and conventional mindsets. Because of the marginalization of women in several societies, their role in decision-making in both public, as well as private spheres, remains negligible. This has led to violence against women getting erroneously characterized as a symbol of masculine dominance. The UN Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women defines this issue as: “…any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in physical, sexual and psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life”.Here, the term ‘gender based’ is used to emphasize inequality between men and women. There are several causes of violence against women such as patriarchal norms, economic restrictions on women, religious believes and norms, and other reasons.
Honour Killings refer to a form of gender-based violence committed by a male family member against a female family member speculated to have dishonored the family by engaging or participating in anunacceptable and immoral form of sexual behavior.According to a national inquiry report published by the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission, it was estimated that some 243 cases of honour killings had occurred between April 2011 and August 2013. The records of the existence of the victims of honour killings are destroyed and often, the perpetrators go unpunished or receive token sentences because of the disguise of suicides or accidents taken by the perpetrators of honour killings.
Analysis of Religious and Cultural Factors Behind the Social Evil of Honour Killing
The Cultural History of Honour Killing
The practice of honour killing is a global phenomenon that affects women in a devastating manner and on a grand scale. To understand the factors behind honour killing, it is vital to delve into the cultural history ofhonour killing. Honour killing finds its roots of origin in the traditions of ancient desert tribes. In these tribes, marriage, and the potential to bear children were considered the greatest assets of women. Women who were perceived to have betrayed the dignity of their men and clan were subjected to honour killings. Furthermore, honour killing was also recognized in the RomanEra where men were given the right to kill women for damaging the honour of family and being adulterous. Furthermore, in the early eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, several European countries enacted legal codes, and enactments based on Catholic teachings leading to light penalties and even exemptions from crimes committed against women. In modern times, the ultimate legal support for honour killing in Islam countries came in form of promulgation of Article III of the Iraqi Penal Code by Saddam Hussain under which extraordinary leverage was extended to men by exempting from liability of killing women in the name of family honour. From the above analysis of the cultural history of honour killing, it is clear that honour killing cannot be perceived as a raw product of any particular religion.
The Role Of Religion And Culture As Factors Behind Incidences Of Honour Killings In Islamic Countries
Cultural beliefs and traditions play a decisive role in the freedom given to women and men. Sexual Immorality is a sensitive issue in almost all cultures and hence, the maintenance of Sexual Purity is of utmost importance to ensure the honour of the family.Hence, the sexual conduct of women is constantly under the scanner concerning their assigned sexual and familial roles of childbearing and maintenance of honour of the family.These norms and values are usually based on men’s feelings and perceptions and serve as the foundations of the cultural practices of the society. These norms and cultural practices, i.e., dogmas become dominant, and any alternative conceptions of these practices are restricted if they do not fit the agenda of that specific community or class. Any deviation from these dogmas is considered unacceptable behavior and is punished accordingly. While Islamdoes not explicitly condone or encourage murders, the incidences of honour killing persist in communities following Islam.Islam primarily promotes the same values that most honour killings aim to uphold, that is, violently punishing those women who disregard these values. For instance, religious scriptures such as Quran, New Testament, etc. penalize immoral sexual conduct such as adultery, fornication, etc. It has been explicitly stated in the religious scriptures of Islam that men and women guilty of adultery or fornication must be punished with flogging with a hundred stripes as adultery and fornication are considered indecent and sinful under the Islamic teachings. But there exists an inconsistency between the teachings of Islam and the practice of honour killing. Furthermore, there are other social, economic, and political factors behind honour killing as well. It is pertinent to note that Islam does not validate or encourage honour killings.
The Other Factors Behind Occurrences of Honour Killing in Islamic Countries
Apart from religious norms and values, the clash between traditional and modern values, intensified by increasing social mobility and economic growth can also be considered as one of the factors contributing to the cases of honour killing in Islamic countries. A major chunk of cases in Islamic countries such as Pakistan, Jordan, etc. is because of women’s attempt to be ‘modern’ and challenging of the conventional outlook prevalent in these societies. The behaviors which have been penalized for being ‘modern’ include using mobile phones, getting filmed on videos, singing or dancing, getting employed in a particular sphere, etc. Furthermore, an unstable political system and application of gender-discriminatory laws also influence the incidences of honour killings. Honour killing is nothing, but homicide and the perpetrators of this crime should be convicted and penalized for homicide. But, when it comes to ground reality, it is often difficult to prove honour killings in the legal courts, especially in Islamic countries where gender-discriminatory laws are followed and the political system is based on conventional and outdated customs.
The International Humanitarian Legal Measures Taken to Curb the Social Evil of Honour Killing
Even though the social issue of honour killing is not explicitly addressed and emphasized upon in any legal instrument, a mandate to deal with and curb the incidences of honour killing can be inferred and derived from humanitarian instruments, treaties, and conventions specifically dealing with the issue of gender-based violence such as the UN Declaration on the Elimination of all Forms of Violence against Women and the Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment, and Eradication of Violence against Women. Honour Killing is considered as a violation of the right to life under the International Humanitarian Law jurisprudence and human rights instruments such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (“ICCPR) and the Universal Declaration on Human Rights (“UDHR”). The Right to Equality before the law is provided under Article 7 of UDHR stating that “All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law” and Article 2 of the same instrument prohibits discrimination. Similarly, the equal right of men and women concerning the enjoyment of all civil and political rights outlined in this Covenant has been provided in Article 3 and the prevention of discrimination has been provided in Article 2(1) of the same instrument. These instruments put affirmative duty upon states to not only prevent to refrain from and prevent abuses of human rights but also duty to protect and respect the human rights of the individuals. Honour killings also violate other related rights such as freedom from torture and inhuman treatment, the right to privacy, the right to health, etc. Thus, instruments dealing with violation of these rights such as Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment dealing with the incidences of violation of the right of freedom from torture and inhumane treatment, the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) dealing with violation of the right to privacy along with other human rights, etc. also cover honour killings and another gender-related violence under their ambit. This contention that honour killing can be covered under women-specific international humanitarian instruments considers the right to health, the freedom from inhuman treatment, and other such rights to be provided by the right to life. Therefore, even though there is no particular international instrument dealing explicitly with honour killing, this does not mean that the issue of honour killing is not covered under International Humanitarian instruments. Hence, even though there is the existence of several women-specific instruments dealing with the issue of violence against women including honour killing, the issue of honour killing of women persists, especially in Islamic countries. The main reason behind these incidences is the non-authoritative nature of these International Humanitarian instruments and the lack of intent on the part of administrators in Islamic countries to implement these instruments and enforce them to ensure the prevention of honour killing in Islamic countries.
Conclusion and Suggestions
From the above analysis, it is clear that honour killing is one of the major and social-cultural crimes and it is carried out when the honour of women is considered doubtful and their relationship with other males is sought inappropriately. Furthermore, several factors impact and influence the occurrences of honour killings. Religion and culture are some of these several influential factors. These customs, norms, and values were originally coined to ensure the smooth functioning of society, but rigid adherence to them accompanied by gender-discriminatory conventional outlook gradually fixed the gender roles across the millennia. But, as discussed in the preceding chapters of this research work, there are other socio-economic and political factors such as financial status, stability of the political system, etc. that influences the occurrences of honour killing. These findings establish the fact that Islam is not the sole factor that trigger incidences of honour killing and there are other factors behind incidences of honour killing as well. Furthermore, it is the inconsistency between their teachings and the practice of honour killing that causes incidences of honour killing along with other factors even though Islam forbade murder because of personal vendetta.
The social issue of honour killing committed against women is a serious public issue that requires immediate attention and collective action.Even though there exist several International Humanitarian instruments covering the issue of honour killing under their ambit, the main concern here is lack of policy measures and legislations penalizing and punishing honor killing in these Islamic countries. Thus, there is a need to introduce policy measures to ensure that there is a systematic abolition of honour killing and sensitization of preparators of violence against women and individuals with a gender-discriminatory outlook regarding the importance of gender equality and make them guilty for their immoral and unreasonable acts. Even though, while introducing policy measures to deter this practice, it is important to ensure respect cultural concepts, but violence and murder are not acceptable even in the name of perceived morality. Furthermore, instead of making the law with the sole aim of penalizing and punishing the preparators, the law should be made to address the consequences and the circumstances which perpetuate honour killing. Apart from these policy measures, there should be social reforms as well. There should be the introduction of specialized lessons and chapters regarding gender equality and gender-related violence in the primary as well as a secondary education system to make the younger generation aware of this serious issue. These lessons and chapters should also be included in the juvenile-detention-educational centers to ensure education and sensitization of young preparators. Only changes in social mentality and legal framework can help in the abolition of this social evil of honour killing.
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