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'Honour'

'Honour'

Lynn Welchman | Sara Hossain

(2008)

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Abstract

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.
'This book must find its way to the shelves of every concerned lawyer, activist and citizen.' Nandini Sundar, Delhi University 'An extremely timely and insightful book.' Yakin Ert?rk, UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women 'This book is by far the best recent work on the issue and is indispensable reading.' Philip Alston, director of the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice, New York University School of Law 'This is an excellent contribution to debates about crimes of honour, violence against women, and the politics of culture.' Annelies Moors, ISIM chair at the University of Amsterdam 'Thoughtful and thought provoking, the volume is an indispensable tool for anyone seriously committed to eradicating violence against women in all communities.' Pragna Patel, Southall Black Sisters, London
Lynn Welchman is senior lecturer in the law department at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. Sara Hossain is a barrister practising at the Supreme Court of Bangladesh, and a member of Ain o Salish Kendra (ASK), a national human rights and legal aid organisation.

Table of Contents

Section Title Page Action Price
Cover\t Cover
Contents v
Acknowledgements viii
Preface: Violence against women and ‘crimes of honour’\r xi
Notes xiv
Introduction: ‘Honour’, rights and wrongs 1
‘Crimes of honour’ 4
Crimes of honour, crimes of passion 10
Crimes of honour and Muslim and minority communities 13
Colonial laws 16
Playing for the other side 17
Strategising responses and creating alternatives 19
Notes 20
1. United Nations approaches to ‘crimes of honour’ 22
United Nations work on violence against women 22
Beyond the Platform 27
Crimes of honour 28
Conclusion 36
2. ‘Crimes of honour’, value and meaning 42
The ‘honour’ motif 43
Actions of men and women 48
Common frameworks 53
Alliances 58
Conclusion 61
Notes 62
3. The role of ‘community discourse’ in combating ‘crimes of honour’: preliminary assessment and prospects 64
‘Crimes of honour’ and the state 66
Sexuality, family and community 67
‘Crimes of honour’ as human rights violations 69
Towards a ‘community discourse’ approach 72
Notes 77
4. ‘Honour killings’ and the law in Pakistan 78
The historical, social and legal context 80
Post-1990: a new law but the problems deepen 83
Recent trends: a more positive direction? 96
The state’s failure to utilise discretion positively 98
Responses 101
Conclusion 104
Postscript 105
Notes 106
5. Murders of women in Lebanon:‘crimes of honour’ between reality and the law 111
‘Crimes of honour’ in Lebanon 111
Socio-historical context 112
The concept of ‘crime of honour’ in Lebanese law 114
Legal analysis of the research sample 119
Social analysis of the research sample 128
Conclusion 134
Notes 135
6. ‘Crimes of honour’ as violence against women in Egypt 137
Background to the study 137
Crimes of honour in Egypt 138
Crimes of honour and the law 142
Crimes of honour and court rulings 147
Crimes of honour in the press 154
Strategies of response: together against crimes of violence and ‘honour crimes’ 155
Notes 157
7. Researching women’s victimisation in Palestine: a socio-legal analysis 160
Conceptualising domestic violence 161
Field studies 169
Notes 180
8. Culture, national minority and the state: working against the ‘crime of family honour’ within the Palestinian community in Israel 181
Case analysis 183
The Palestinian community: from taboo to opposition 193
Conclusions 197
Notes 198
9. Changing the rules? Developments on ‘crimes of honour’ in Jordan 199
Notes 207
10. Honour-based violence among the Kurds: the case of Iraqi Kurdistan 209
The law and honour 211
The limits to reform 217
Against the tide: the voices of Kurdish women 223
Conclusions 225
Notes 227
11. ‘Crimes of honour’ in the Italian Penal Code: an analysis of history and reform 230
The idea of ‘honour’ in Italian law and society 231
‘Honour killing’, Article 587 of the Rocco Code 234
Relevance of the cause of honour in other provisions of the Rocco Code 238
Conclusions 239
Notes 240
12. The ‘legitimate defence of honour’, or murder with impunity? A critical study of legislation and case law in Latin America 245
‘Crimes of honour’ in Latin America: overview 246
The Brazilian legal context 251
Methodology 255
Conclusion 260
Notes 261
13. ‘There is no “honour” in domestic violence, only shame!’ Women’s struggles against ‘honour’ crimes in the UK 263
‘Swallowed her whole’ 265
It’s different for women 266
From forced marriage to honour killings 268
‘Mature multiculturalism’ 270
Reinventing old ‘solutions’ 272
Negotiating the space between race and gender 274
From honour killings to domestic violence? 275
Bridging the space 277
Notes 279
14. Of consent and contradiction: forced marriages in Bangladesh 282
Legal provisions informing marriage practices in Bangladesh 283
Theoretical analysis of forced marriage 290
Analysis of legal remedies 298
Conclusion: patriarchal complicities and possible remedies 302
Notes 304
15. From fathers to husbands: of love, death and marriage in North India 308
Prologue: a late beginning 308
The social and ideological context of violence of choice marriages: the notion of izzat in North India 309
Narratives of violence 312
The criminal justice system in action 316
The law in action: making sense of the judicial ‘mind’ 319
Making a difference: the importance of support 324
By way of an interim conclusion 326
Notes 327
16. Tackling forced marriages in the Nordic countries: between women’s rights and immigration control 332
Norway 332
A note on mainstreaming 341
Denmark 342
Conclusion 346
Notes 349
References 354
About the contributors 370
Index 375