By: Taha Rizvi
In a country like Pakistan which has a huge impact on global nations, ‘Honor Killing’ is very common. In the present time of modernism and industrialization issues like Honor Killings are very alarming. According to the reports around 1000+ cases are reported on Honor killing. Although, Pakistan enacted a law under international and domestic pressure to make this act punishable through 7 years imprisonment or death penalty upon extreme cases. Still, the crime rate hasn’t seen a very noticeable decline.
These cases are mostly reported in smaller areas where the illiteracy rate is high, usually in these areas there are landlords and influential people and many cases of honor killing are forbidden just by saying that following man or woman brought disgrace to the family, because of it many cases aren’t reported and written in the books.
This issue has brought disgrace to our country and many international countries don’t accept our people because of rising number of cases of Honor Killing.
In 2004, many activists came forward and protested and legal teams worked on it because till then thousands of murders were reported in very less tenure, so many female activists, lawyers, politicians came forward and demanded proper legal laws for such killings, murders in the name of honor and demanded punishment for it. In 2005, the law came out but there were many shortfalls in it and didn’t have any strict punishments. Many Islamic scholars, NGO’s, and activists spoke out for it but as we can see in stats it continued to rise every year. As seen from the statistics that women have been the major victim of Honor Killing.
Though in Islamic Republic of Pakistan women are given special respect but this also varies in many cultures and traditions. The urban and rural communities and living standards are very different from one another. In rural areas women are limited to house related work and there is no role of women in society while if we see life of urban areas women are given special roles, respect and rights. In rural area women are counted as an expense and other than giving birth or cooking she has no significance in society and in these areas most honor killing cases are reported.
Actually in Pakistan gender discrimination has a huge impact, most of the women even don’t know their basic rights and they are never empowered enough to speak up and if someone manages to speak they are killed in the name of honor.
What is Honor Crime?
Honor Killing or crime would usually be described as, ‘a killing which was done for the sake of protecting one’s family or personal honor’. Mostly women fall trap to this act but men have also been a victim. Such acts are justified falsely by stating that the specific person was involved in alleged marital infidelity, refusal to submit to an arranged marriage, demanding a divorce or a shameful flirtatious act. If we closely see the culture, we can see that if a woman even triggers the ego of a man he can kill her in the name of Honor. If a woman progresses to a family where she isn’t allowed to work, but insists to, then she is humiliating the honor. Now, even if the women are proved to have been involved in any immoral act, killing is not the right punishment until the law allows it. One such example from our country could be of Qandeel Baloch.
Reasons of Honor Killings in Pakistan
According to the reported cases if we study the registered FIR’s we can see that mostly the reasons are:
- Bad Character.
- Past relationships or divorce.
- Leaving house without permission.
- Working women.
- Illegal affair.
- Love marriage.
- Running away (regardless of the reason)
- Breaking family norms.
- Domestic issues.
- Marriage outside cast or tribe.
Facts & Figures show that Punjab has the highest reported cases, and then Sindh and Baluchistan follow. Most of the files are shut because police do not take these cases seriously. After so many cases and laws we are not getting any prominent results and these incidents are increasing and now it’s time government should shed some light and take this issue seriously because in long run this can create many complications inside the country and in global affairs.
Here’s one such case that I know. A woman who used to work as a maid was burned down and it was reported as an accidental death. But many people suspected it as a murder, because initially her husband left her for another woman and she had children to look after. Later the husband arrived back to continue living with her & children but only after a few days, her death was reported due to fire that broke out in their house and she burned to death. So many cases are not reported as honor killing or crimes because they are shaped to look as accidental deaths.
How to prevent?
There are number of ways to help prevent the public and spread awareness to stand against this act.
- First of all, implementation over the laws developed for this crime, must be made real to put forward some dreadful examples in front of public so they could fear.
- Courts should be given more power and safety to insure fast results.
- Police should be empowered and they should investigate the cases in detail.
- Women should be given clear guidance to their rights, and development of rules and regulations to empower them.
- Online portals and easy to call helplines should be made so women can easily report their cases.
- Government should create safety homes or shelters for those women who have a serious risk/threat from their families, until they get a secure future.
- The survivors of honor killing or the women who report these cases should be given protection until the police don’t undergo the entire investigation.
- Awareness sessions and education to remote area population is mandatory to prevent further incidents.
