Category: Honor

A man in the likeness of dishonesty is like an illusion, one that hides his deception and guile. Odysseus displays a false representation of merit as his more prominent heroic qualities conceal his dishonorable traits. However, mere strength and bravery alone, does not make a hero honorable. Honor can be defined as an individual who adheres to a right or conventional standard of conduct. Odysseus does not abide by these standards, instead creating his own code of conduct for himself and for his men. In Homer’s epic poem The Odyssey, Odysseus’s fatal flaws lead to his inconsistent actions, making him dishonorable. He fails to embody the important value of honor by conducting himself in a manner of arrogance and dishonesty.

Odysseus has a tendency of arrogance and selfishness, showing that he is not honorable.His overwhelming pride becomes a burden to himself and his men. An instance of this flaw is when he made his last remark to the enraged Cyclops. Odysseus calls out saying “‘If I could take your life I would take your time away, and hurl you down to hell! The god of an earthquake could not heal you there!’”(479-481) The attitude that Odysseus exhibits to his men and the overbearing confidence, is lacking in humility and compassion, which are necessary characteristics of a leader. The inciting incident occurs as Odysseus provokes the already angered Cyclops. Within Greek culture, the gods do not encourage or tolerate arrogant individuals. Disobeying culture and absorbed in his own self, Odysseus is disdained by Zeus and is prophesied a difficult and long journey back to Ithaca. His actions did not gain respect or relay a positive image for his country. His spontaneity and ignorance become an inconvenience to his men. A leader such as Odysseus cannot be recognized as an honorable man since he causes an issue not only for himself but his crew members as well. His arrogance leads to his hubris of curiosity, enabling him to take on a challenge that he may not be able to handle. Such examples are portrayed when his curiosity tempts him to hear the song of the Sirens and his deadly desire to witness the Cyclops places Odysseus in unwanted situations. Odysseus’s men wanted to leave the island of the Cyclopes, yet “[he refuses]. [He] wished to see the caveman, what he had to offer” (172-173) He has a lethal weakness of curiosity that branches from his arrogance. Odysseus congests himself with praise and an exceeding confidence that makes him believe he can take on challenges that may be bigger than he is. His curiosity is an obstacle that obstructs his ability to think ahead of his actions. Rather than considering the consequences, Odysseus is unable to overcome his flaw, lacking a crucial trait of patience and humility in order to be an honorable hero. Odysseus’s spite and arrogance negatively becomes an obstacle along his journey and is the cause of his long passage home. An honorable figure is an example to others and is recognized as the most responsible of a group. However, Odysseus is not the epitome of such characteristics and acts rashly, becoming a dishonorable leader as he continues to behave in arrogance and an unrestrained curiosity.

Additionally, Odysseus fails to embody honor by being dishonest and deceptive. He is mercilessly deceitful with his schemes, such as when he was disguised as an old man in order to enact revenge upon the Suitors. As Odysseus reveals himself to Telemachus he reveals that:

[Athena] has the knack to make me seem a beggar man sometimes and sometimes young, with finer clothes about me.

It is no hard things for the gods of heavento glorify a man or bring him low. (1054-1058)This instance uncovers the inconsistency of the gods and Odysseus, emphasizing his dishonorable qualities. His disguise does not adhere to what is right, rather encourages trickery to achieve a goal. He taints his integrity with dishonesty and uses trickery and deception to massacre the suitors in his home. Despite the state of his home, he conducted himself in a manner that did not abide by his culture. He seems to take advantage of Athena’s kindness and ability to morph his appearance, making him dishonorable as he cheats his way with her guidance. Furthermore, he is disqualified from being honorable as he kills all the suitors in his home. Even Odysseus is aware that it is shameful since he tries to hide their deaths and covers up his return. “In blood and dust he saw that a crowd had fallen, many and many slain.” (1533-1533) Odysseus leaves the Suitors to “[twitch] their cold lives away”(1538), “heaped on one another.”(1539) This scene does not seem to embrace or describe the actions of an honorable hero. Instead of remaining patient and representing an example of mercy, Odysseus behaves with rage and immaturity. Unlike the teachings of Greek culture, Odysseus does not honor the dead suitors and deceives those living outside of his palace, unaware of the deaths of the men. Although Odysseus may be brave, he fails to define honor as a consequence of his mistrustful and deceptive actions. He lacks crucial traits such as humility and patience in order to qualify him as an honorable hero.Indeed, while Odysseus may be clever and self-disciplined, he falls short with his arrogance and dishonesty. His ignorance of others and deception led to the misfortune of those around him. He does not embody an honorable leader with his vindictive nature and inability to act with gentility. Honor is not only defined by strength, bravery, and wit, but is proved with actions of integrity, truthfulness, and humility.

Every student has a different reason for attending college. Some students are just trying to graduate to obtain a degree. Others may be looking for parties or excitement. However, I believe that I am looking for more than the average college student. I am looking for experiences that can help me grow not just academically, but also in the professional world of business and communication.

When I applied to UT Dallas, I began my college life pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Biology. As a Muslim, it is typical for students from my religious community to pursue the typical degree plan to take biology and chemistry courses and then go to medical school. However, I did not want to imitate the plans of the Muslims from my community and instead pursue a different path in life. I chose Global Business because I wanted a career with a variant lifestyle that relied on more than just studying and passing courses. Global Business accomplishes that by also requiring internships, community engagement, and study abroad. These requirements will allow me to improve important skills such as communication, applying for a professional position, and living on my own in a foreign country. I want to focus on preparing for the professional world, which encouraged me to apply for the Davidson Management Honors Program.

I believe that the Davidson Management Honors Program can provide me with the experiences and the improvement that I am looking for. As a college student whose family’s net income is under $20,000 a year, I am not able to gain as many opportunities as other students due to financial circumstances. However, this program offers exceptional benefits such as scholarship opportunities and travel that can aid financially burdened students. I have always wanted to be able to learn and work globally. That is part of the reason why I decided to major in Global Business. The Davidson Management Honors Program can help me do that and more.

I also plan to bring my passion and qualities to the Davidson Management Honors Program. As a determined college student, I have been focusing my undivided attention on my responsibilities such as studying and working a part-time job in order to prepare myself. Not only can I dedicate this determination and motivation to the program, but I can also share my enthusiasm with other students. With fellow students, who like me, are looking for personal growth, I believe we can learn from each other’s mistakes and hardships as we persevere. I always look for ways to pay back the friends and family that have helped me out throughout my life. That is why I have been so involved in various activities within my mosque, such as volunteering as a Sunday School supervisor and being an active member of the Youth Committee. I can also bring this involvement into the program as well.

In retrospect, I am applying for the Davidson Honors Management Program in order to become a more capable person in order to overcome my hardships and obtain the skills to be successful. Working harder on my classes and studies can only get me so far, thus encouraging me to look for new opportunities to grow. I am not only passionate about gaining new experiences from this program but also to help and create connections with others so that they are able to fulfill their reason for going to college as well.

Ryunosuke Akutagawa’s “In a Grove” concerns various witnesses in a murder trial. Although each witness is testifying about the same crime, their accounts vary. They seem to remember different facts, making it difficult to convict anyone. Three of the witnesses, Tajomaru the thief, Masago, and her Samurai husband, Kanazawa no Takehiko all confess to at least one killing. It is impossible that they are all guilty of murder or suicide. Upon closer reading, their confessions seem to be an attempt to retain their reputations and honor. In 8th Century Japan, honor is more important than being innocent of a crime, and each of the confessed killers is motivated by the need to maintain a sense of honor. Tajomaru wants to be viewed as a terrifying, fearless criminal while Masago, although she has probably been raped, can use her confession to regain a sense of purity. For the samurai, Kanazawa no Takehiko, the honor of bravery and suicide is far preferable to being a victim to a thief or his wife.

The thief Tajomaru, after being captured by a police officer was brought into questioning. Tajomaru immediately confesses to the murder of the samurai but claims he doesn’t know what became of the wife. As he talks and confesses his crimes, Tajomaru tries to make a name for himself, to make sure that he is seen as someone who is an amazing thief and swordsman. The deliberately goes on to say, “I made up my mind to capture her even if I had to kill her man” (15). In making the statement in that manner he was trying to say that he didn’t care if the man was a samurai, a samurai being someone who was an elite warrior and easily feared for their combat skills, he knew that he wanted his wife and he was going to get her no matter the cost.

In his confession, Tajomaru did not kill the samurai immediately. He again boasts about how smart he was that he was able to lure this elite warrior into a grove. When the samurai went into the grove, the samurai was taken by surprise and tied up by Tajomaru, which was part of his grand scheme that was going “exactly” how he had planned, and “it was quite easy” (18). Also as part of his plan, he brought the wife to the husband and as he says “at least I could satisfy my desire for her without taking her husband’s life” (21). He cannot help but keep talking about himself as someone great.

After revealing his crime of having his way with the wife of the samurai, he claims that the wife begged him to either kill her husband or that he died and that she would be with the one who survived the fight. Tajomaru, trying to state that he has some sort of honor code, untied the samurai so that it was a fair fight. He again boasts about his skill by proclaiming “Nobody under the sun has ever clashed swords with me twenty strokes” (24) and saying that he was surprised the samurai was able to survive to the twenty-third stroke. Tajomaru’s confession seemed to be one that made him seem like some sort of an amazing fighter and criminal and that he commanded an insurmountable amount of honor. Though he did confess to having his with Masago and killing Kanazawa no Takehiko, Masago’s confession seems to contradict his story to some degree.

Masago comes forward with her confession, which seems to be a process of regaining some honor that was taken from her after being raped by Tajomaru. She says that when Tajomaru led her to her husband who was bound she was taken aback by it. She goes on to say “Despite myself, I ran stumblingly toward his side. Or rather tried to run toward him, but the man instantly knocked me down” (27). She tries to claim that she cared for her husband and that she wanted to stay at his side when he was down and bound.

She said that when she came out of unconsciousness the thief was nowhere to be seen and her husband was still bound. That statement completely contradicts what Tajomaru had said about his fight with the samurai. She says that the look of anger and shame were still in his eyes and says to him “I’m determined to die…but you must die, too. You saw my shame. I can’t leave you alive as you are” (30). She tells her husband that she is fully willing to die due to her shame but that she could let her husband live with the anger and the shame of having to watch his wife go through what had just transpired. She took her sword and stabbed her husband.

She is trying to make the plea of having to kill her husband to secure his honor and her honor as well. She claims that she tried to kill herself many times and that she was still living with dishonor while she was making her confession. She finishes her confession by saying “I killed my husband. I was violated by the robber” (33) and starts breaking down in tears as she asks what she is to do. That final show of sorrow could also be a way of showing that she was trying to do the honorable thing by killing her husband after being violated and was now lost after trying to do the honorable thing. Though her story does seem to put her in a good light and make her seem somewhat honorable, Kanazawa no Takehiko’s story paints a different picture of her and of Tajomaru as well.

Kanazawa’s account of what happened was extremely different from that of his wife Masago. She made it seem as if she was trying to be a loving wife through and through but the reality of what had happened was far more sinister. After Tajomaru raped his wife, Kanazawa says that Tajomaru began to speak to his wife in a way to comfort her and get in her head. He says that she looked as if she was in some sort of trance from listening to Tajomaru.

When Masago finally responded to Tajomaru’s word with something that Kanazawa never expected to hear. Her response was “Then take me away with you wherever you go” (35). Those words filled Kanazawa with anger and jealousy, and rightfully so because his wife just told the man that tied up her husband and raped her in front of him that she would leave with him. Those words were not the worst words that she would say however, she also uttered far more terrifying words that shook him to the core. “Kill him! She cried many times, as if she had gone crazy” (36) Tajomaru was so shocked by her words that he knocked her off him and looked at Kanazawa.

Tajomaru looks at Kanazawa and says “What will you do with her? Kill her or save her? You have only to nod. Kill her” (36). That word appealed to Kanazawa because he said that he would want to have Tajomaru but did not appeal to Masago. As soon as she heard those words she ran and because she ran Tajomaru cut one of the bonds that tied up Kanazawa. Kanazawa being weak from being tied up and broken down from the shame of the events that had transpired, used the blade of his wife to complete a ritual suicide called seppuku. The ritual suicide is a way to regain the honor that he had lost. In the accounts that Kanazawa gives we see that neither Masaga’s nor Tajomaru’s story link up.

Each one of the three confessions is different in its way but they do have one similar thing. They all try to appeal to honor, something that is important in ancient Japan, even more important than conviction. Tajomaru tries to make himself into a mastermind and great fighter while Masago tries to paint herself as a loving wife put in a tough position. Kanazawa tries to retain his honor and show that he went out as a samurai would and was honorable until the end.

Work Cited

1. Akutagawa Ryūnosuke. In a Grove. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2017.

The Legion of Honor was opened on November 11th, 1924. I didn’t visit it until October 26th, 2019. The museum was a lot of fun; I attended with Xareni Merino and my family. It only took us about 25 minutes until we were scolded. We tried to enter an area that we didn’t know wasn’t open to the public. The Legion of Honor is on top of a gorgeous hill well known as Land’s End. You can also see the famous Golden Gate Bridge from the 25¢ telescopes. This museum is home to the Joan of Arc at the Palace, Laocoön and His Sons, a bronze statue of El Cid Campeador, and a replica of the famous The Thinker. 

Something that interested me was the Laocoön and His Sons, outside the museum. Although it was really hard to get to, it was an amazing piece when I was able to get up close. Except if you don’t know much about art, and I don’t, it was really hard to identify this piece because it doesn’t have a plaque or something that identifies it. It was also a little hard to get to. People who don’t know where it is located will see it first outside two doors downstairs to the left. You cannot access the statue through those doors. You have to go all the way around the museum and onto a small gravel path to get to it. The Laocoön and His Sons is a statue of three men with maybe one or two snakes coiled around the three men.

The largest man is Laocoön and the smaller two are his sons. There are so many textures to this statue. With the cloth, their hair, the skin, and the snake’s body. You can also see that there is a triangular shape to the entire sculpture (picture 1) and a circular shape to it too (picture 2). The triangular shape is more obvious with the head at the peak, and the elbows of the two sons at the left and right angles. On the other hand, the circular shape is a little less obvious. There are no longer snakes coiled around the three men, but it’s clear that there once was. These snakes would have led our eyes clockwise around the statue. Even though the sons are younger and smaller than their father, they still have muscular bodies because they are still perfect. You can also see the cloth at the bottom of one of the son’s feet. You would think this is just meant to be decoration, but it’s holding that figure up.  This particular statue was probably the original first copy of the Roman copy. This copy was also found during the Renaissance during Michelangelo’s time. It was found in 1506 on Esquiline Hill in Rome. The Laocoön and His Sons were very influential in Renaissance art. Unlike the art of its time, the entire story is mostly in the front. It’s not like the Farnese Hercules where you need to walk around the entire sculpture to see the whole story.

INTRODUCTION

Honor killing is an act of killing which is being travelled in our societies related to any religion and any type of cultural followers, People just kill their loved ones who have caused any type of harm or disrespect for their family. Families feel shame of what the society will think about them and then in what they call necessary precautions they do such terrified things from which coming back is not possible and they kill each other just for the honor of their family. These things only happen due to the lack of religion knowledge or due to poor literacy rate of our society, because people get influenced of what others think they should do.

Every conflict leads itself to a situation in which 6 out of 10 people think of doing this inhuman and horrible thing. It is a kind of incident in which the whole society claps for the killer and don’t looks the other way. All of this should have been reduced since when the parliament passed an anti-honor killing law in 2016 or at least the criminals should not be forgiven by the family. When crimes of honor killing takes place within the close relatives then they are majority of the times forgiven which leads to further spread of this concept and a belief that getting away with honor killing is not a big deal. If actions would be taken and strictly followed it would decrease its rate enough to make others understand that this is nowhere near even a choice also it’s not their right at all. People even hoped that an idea that a death can be ‘honorable’ should be there as they are in somewhat way protecting their pride and family’s dignity. But a murder is a murder and mandatory punishment should be given to stop such evil acts and cruelty. Men and women are both the victims of honor killing. But in Pakistan honor killing of women is more aligned.

In our Islamic society which say blood-shed for blood-shed, killing for killing, people don’t understand this term and take the law in their own hands and then find themselves in barbaric situations. People should be given a proper knowledge about everything what our religion says and how we should handle the situation according to the present laws. So, that the culprits face will be shown to the society with his punishment and make sure that it never happens again. And the people who used to clap their hands will never do that in case of honor killing because it’s not good act to follow.

OBJECTIVES

Education should be a focus to prevent such events from accruing. Only 16% of women in Pakistan are literate. Illiteracy rates are very high in Pakistan. The education sector is suffering from inadequate financing and infrastructure. Education needs to be improved, more schools are needed in Pakistan so more girls/boys could attend school In Pakistan whenever people see that there’s an act of terror being accrued in any place they just change their steps from the happening direction to the other and stay quiet and do anything. People should know that if they will raise a voice against such an unpleasant event they will be protected and the law former and protectors will protect then and will stop such events. When issues are highlighted on any source they should be taken into consideration to take actions and help in figuring out solution for such issues. Newspapers and reports that do provide information should be studied regarding honor killing issues. Even though there is not always a lot of information about it which can be useful. Culture is also one of those factors which are the basis of such problems. Traditions are followed through generations where they oppress women and it continues for years ahead. People should be given education on what Islam teaches us not what we are following through generations. Pakistan is one of the twelve countries who spend 2% of their GDP on education sector. Education needs to be improved, more schools are needed in Pakistan so more of our generation could attend school.

Providing a proper understanding of honor killing as one of the forms of honor based violence of human rights.

There are also physical, mental issues due to violence can have a big impact on anyone’s life and an action should be taken immediately. Honor killing is also a form of domestic violence but the perpetrators are mostly not punished as they get bailed or are forgiven. Victim is blamed young or adult. Majority of the times the perpetrators are close relatives and common relations like husband, followed by brother or father. Religion is taken as an excuse to do what people wish when Islam is the only religion that provides freedom and right to women the most. Also it is not matter of Islam only but it also happens in Hinduism, Christianity, etc. Qisas (retribution), Diyat (blood money), Forgiving in the name of God by victim’s family. These are some of the reasons why perpetrator does not gets punished and the crime goes on. Mainstrea cases occur in rural areas and do not get enough attention to act on also lack of education and knowledge leads to such issues drastically. Violence of such kind majority of the times happens at home or by close relatives, so a check and balance on the activities of men and women by their families should be taken. In Pakistan Women are seen as commodity owned and controlled by their fathers, husbands and brothers. Women are not supposed to express any desires and feelings contrary to the wishes of their fathers, husbands, and brothers.

Evaluating the laws and regulations triggering honor killing. People should be given education to stand by the men and do any kind of work they want to do. They should be treated equally as men are. There should be practical reforms to enforce these rights in Pakistan. Which will clearly make people understand under which circumstances they need to go directly to the law makers.

The law tazir is a law which is implement on the culprit of honor killing included in the definition of fasad-fil-ard and a minimum penalty of 10 years as tazir laid down (with a maximum of 14 years), the awarding of a penalty in cases where the right of qisas has been waived or compounded has been left completely at the discretion of the court. As in the past, this provides the loophole for murderers to get away with minimal or no penalty. There should be tazir with High (MAXIMUM) penalties so that there will be no loophole for the murderers to get away from

Honor killings are an extreme form of gendered domestic violence. Most involve young, single female victims and an assailant who is a male relative however, they also include some types of intimate-partner homicides, as well as cases with male victims, victims outside the family, and female assailants. An honor killing is motivated by the desire to restore a social reputation that in the killer’s perception has been damaged by rumors about or the victim’s actual breach of conduct norms regulating female sexuality in the widest sense; the decision to use lethal violence is a collective family affair, rather than the action of an individual perpetrator. The underlying motive in all cases irrespective of the victims’ gender is the punishment or coercion of women.

It is not about religion, it’s about culture. Honor”-based violence is driven by cultural norms that consider girls and women to be the property of men. It is perpetuated by the idea that a woman’s body is a vessel of her family’s honor, rather than her own to do with as she chooses, and a systemic view of girls and women as inferior to boys and men. These murders are motivated by the belief that a girl is merely a symbol of her family’s honor and that symbol can be smudged. “Girls are born only to stay at home and to bring honor to the family by following family traditions,

Let’s take an example of recent previous year event” said the brother (and proud killer) of social-media star and victim Qandeel Baloch. And in this view, girls and women are expendable when that honor is smudged and the family symbol is infected.

The problem cannot be solved by creating laws. We have to challenge social norms. In order to stop this practice there need to be strict laws prohibiting honor based violence, but there also needs to be a change in the social norms that support the violence and an awareness of how to appropriately deal with victims. In Pakistan While creating new laws to address honor based violence is important, the system of this honor is deeply ingrained in culture. Pakistani policemen or law makers and investigative authorities from the same culture may not necessarily motivated to enforce the law because they norms. And thus the culture diversity does not exist because every one have the same thinking capabilities based on past norms and beliefs.

LITERATURE REVIEW

Honor killing is a topic which does not gets enough attention and majority of the times it is not even brought to forefront just to minimize it. The men in the family are behind such issues claiming to protect when they are actually ruining everything. Honor killing is not only common in a specific religion or cast or region but it occurs everywhere just because of the thinking and beliefs they have. Due to lack of education and domestic violence in rural areas violence is very much prevailing among them due to this women and girls adopt wrong ways to seek escape from their family and bad behavior of their husbands. People start to react even if that’s what they want or not because they think that this will make them part of a “Proud Society”.

Honor killing is very much dominant among South Asian countries where most of the population is poor and illiterate and are not even given enough freedom. If we look from Pakistan’s perspective then these types of cases are mostly seen in Sindh and Baluchistan. Quran has clearly mentioned about the actions taken against this issue. Due to modernization the actual laws which are given to us by Allah are not followed, international laws are followed rather than Islamic laws which has pretty much destroyed the roots of our country. Honor killing has different names but a locally known is “karo-kari” in which karo means dishonored men while kari means dishonored women. This illegal act leads to many problems that mostly result in mental illnesses and nobody takes this under consideration as mental illnesses are referred as being either totally senseless or just an excuse, which is wrong in so many ways as these mental conditions lead to future of the women and their children’s completely wrecked.

The concept of honor killing is social, cultural and moral underpinning that determines its preservation. Women are considered as the carriers of family’s honor and pride if they dare to break or disobey the rules built by societies they have damaged thier honor so killing them or punishing them is considered the only way to regain their pride. This concept is not followed only by some groups of people or a certain region but is a mindset of generations as it was present in the world since centuries. Women are objectified, threatened, killed, raped, and assaulted not by only outsiders but it commonly starts from home. They are considered to understand and stay quiet on almost every matter also their opinion or standing up for themselves is considered such a shame for the families. Women being superior in any way hurts the ego of the men as it makes them feel less “manly” of them when Islam teaches us things differently. Violence is a common factor as 1 out 3 women suffer from some sort of violence in her life by their intimate partner alone. Even in 21st century there are people with such narrow minded thinking that it seems like they are still living in the era where burying girls at their birth was considered normal. When Islam has given so much respect and high rank then why do men be given right to make them feel less of a person in any way, men are supposed to protect and when it comes to the relationship of husband and wife they are supposed to live in a way where they overcome each other’s flaws and build confidence instead of torturing of doubting each other’s intentions.

Many times the negative thinking of results in women suffering like women studying in a school, college or university where men do too also boils their blood like they might run away with them or do a shameful deed that will disrespect them in front of everyone. Women can achieve so much but instead of empowering their passion their passions are considered worthless and aimless because they are considered to stay back at home doing house chores and having minimal interactions with anyone.

Women and girls may lose honor through expressions of autonomy, particularly if this autonomy occurs within the area of sexuality. Men may be targeted either by the family of a woman who They are believed to have ‘dishonored’, in which case both parties may be at risk, or by their own family if they are believed to be homosexual.

Common triggers of honor killings based on the previous studies are;

• Refusing an arranged marriage.
• Having a relationship outside the approved group.
• Reporting domestic violence.
• Attempting to divorce.
• Refusing to divorce when ordered to do so by family members.
• Conflicts of honor, For example; concerning an inheritance.

It has been noticed in the previous studies that all of the above are most of the reasons honor killing occurs. Let’s get a brief on them Refusal of an arranged marriage is often a cause of an honor killing. The family which has preset the marriage risks disgrace if the marriage does not proceed. A woman attempting to obtain a divorce or separation without the consent of the husband/extended family can also be a trigger for honor killings. In cultures where marriages are set and goods are often exchanged between families, a woman’s desire to seek a divorce is often viewed as an insult to the men who negotiated the deal. By making their marital problems known outside the family, the women are seen as exposing the family to public disrepute.

Role of society according to literature reviews of researches, communities also play the role of initiator. It is according to the standards set by the community that Honor is held to be a vital ingredient, and that women are seen as the gateway to men Honor. The community constantly continues the subordinate role of women, and if a woman tries to break out of this role or behaves in a manner not acceptable, then it is community who condemns her and thereby condemns her family. It is the community that is intolerant of women behaving any differently, and it is community that expects the misbehaving woman’s family to handle her, i.e. remove the stain on their family honor. It is also the community that pressures and taunts men to control their family. Therefore, it can be said that it is the community that places the men under pressure to behave in a certain way. The community also plays a major role through its inactive role in not extending help to the potential victim or the victim’s family.

FRAMEWORK

Different steps should be taken like providing knowledge, awareness and building public opinion. Also media should provide information and spread awareness on issues like these so they understand that killing is not the solution to these problems and specific steps should be taken according to our religion to deal with them. Any kind of abuse should be stopped either physical, mental or sexual because a man is given the power to protect women not to harm or use his strength for any type of illegal or corrupt reason. A simple justification “BECAUSE HE IS A MAN” is not enough. Newspapers and other media platforms should highlight such topics as well as their solutions to spread enough awareness to build minds for future generations to stand against such incidents.

Education

As from the above studies the variables we have identified are all independent of only on dependent variable which is honor killing. Let’s discuss each of the independent variable and its relation with the dependent variable one by one. Society have a great impact on the people to make big decisions as people share their opinions about different thing and often share such opinions on things which they will never do by themselves but they don’t know about the certain people who are listening to them and will make their decisions based on their opinion because they lack at self-decision making.

We are no one to question the norms and beliefs of the society. Norms and beliefs of a society are being passed from one generation to the other for hundreds of years. In old times people used to have a clear sight on the understanding of the norms and beliefs. On now which people have a lot of misconceptions. Because of our own self-made firqas and people who are the face of different Islamic parties share their opinions differently. This needs to be controlled because through this narrowness we have begun to question the people we love and ourselves

Education rate in Pakistan needs to be improved because there is a huge amount illiterate people who are not educated and have Zero percent of knowledge about their laws and their regulations. Due to that they are bound to themselves and take most of the matters to their hands and think like if the tell anyone a stream of shame will be spread about their families. So; they keep quiet and make decisions like killing someone just for the sake of self-respect in front of the society. These things would have never happened if from the first day our media had portrayed these type of crimes correctly. And had not let society to promote such drastic events.

DISCUSSION

Women are victims and have been victims since centuries back. Firstly they were used to be buried alive then were also burned alive or tortured to death. Education level being low plays a vital role in making things go in this direction as men do not get enough knowledge about how to treat a women and how to behave with them. They are compelled to believe according to what they want them to be since birth that they are the protectors and saviors of their family’s women when they actually are being brainwashed to abuse them and torture them. Society blames females even if she is a child and believe that she herself is the reason why men have to put a stop to their unacceptable actions like marrying someone of their choice, getting divorced or even rapped. Men victimize those females who they know or are from their family because they sometimes feel some kind of right to attack them and control them according to their desires. There is a greater number of victims who are married as they are targeted of domestic violence on daily basis in Pakistan. Married women are tortured by their in-laws for different reasons like not giving them a boy child or meeting with her family too often etc. So basically major perpetrators are husbands.

Women also get maltreated by other females. Just like mother-in-law of a female starts to form feuds between husband and wife with different things so her son will only follow her rules and regulations and would oppress her wife whenever she wants. In many countries including Pakistan women are killed by their husbands followed by their brothers which seems so absurd but still happens. Fathers kill their own daughter when they should be protected by them as he is the first men in her life who she trusts and loves first so it seems unbelievable but happens. Honor killing is the reaction of one or more people whose been dishonored so the issue that occurs is that the punishment is chosen by the families or that one person which is whatever they wish to due to her. In that vicious moment it does not matters that girl is either a young girl, a teenager or an adult. Sometimes even if it hurts the person to actually kill, he gets impelled to do such deed in the pressure of family or friends even just society.

Media plays a vital role when it comes to highlighting such incidents and spreading awareness about it. In some way it is our media’s responsibility to showcase such forbidding doings so people get knowledge about it to protect themselves from these kinds of things to happen to themselves also for them to stand against such violent actions to safeguard those who need our help. Media faces a lot of criticism some of the times just for portraying and bringing such matters to forefront which are taboo but it helps to spread awareness. Media really helps in building the minds and as well as develops thinking of its audience that is why it is crucial to let them see what would stop this cruelness. In honor killing the idea that is in mind is that victim was the one to be punished and it is hard to gather around that how many females suffer from such discrimination every year. When women see such horrifying stories they get mentally tortured because they also star to get upset and stress about their safety. Women starts to feel unsafe in a society. It also not only affects the mental capabilities of a woman but also physically. Such categorized behavior has existed from many centuries by every kind of tradition almost. Women are always objectified as the puppets who should follow what men want because they are the only ones who know how to safeguard them and are more superior to them in any way.

Women are killed if she gives birth to another girl, she is tortured if she wants to pursue her ambitions and she is considered to obey not to give her own opinion or even share her thoughts because they are thought to be worthless. No matter how much modernization does comes the concept of thinking that women have no values or she is worthless does not goes away because such mindsets are passed down through generations. Like her even being raped is considered her fault because she dressed a certain way to was in public but in reality men do not even feel ashamed of their actions or have a second thought when they rape a 3 month old child which is absurd.

Women should be empowered by men so they would stand with them shoulder by shoulder and building lives for each other. Women are the most precious creation of Allah and no one has a right to dishonor that.

RECOMMENDATIONS

There is a need for major education and awareness about the issue and the law. Clearly, current methods have not resulted in the information being spread far and wide. Media plays an important role, and not just to report the latest honor killing, but also providing details about the law and its implications. Children, especially, but also adults, need to be educated about honor killings on some forum or the other. The State needs to take a stronger role to ensure dissemination of information. One suggestion relating to the police could be that the police should hold a meeting with the community every week to discuss different communal issues and different laws.

The legal profession has its existing problems of time delays, corruption and transparency, as is generally known, but also it is not always sensitive to the situation regarding honor killings. Finding that honor killing can be used as a method for mitigation of sentences to murderers is one such example. It is necessary to establish in the courts that it is not acceptable to use women for holding the man’s honor, and to emphasize that violence against women for any reason should never be condoned in our society in any way.

A open outreach program needs to be started to provide shelter and protection for women who run away from possible murders. The community cannot stay silent any longer. The community needs to be engaged in constant and repeated discussion on the monstrous nature of the crime of honor killing in order to bring about a meaningful social change within the Pakistani society

ABSTRACT

Honor killing is a kind of issue or a situation that humans has to face. An already difficult world is made crueler by men by such inhuman deeds. This kind of issue have not been brought up so much because it is not considered an issue rather it is just considered a matter of pride being restored. The people who did such acts felt proud of themselves because they reestablished the family’s pride and morality. Not only a murderer is involved because sometimes a group of people around him are also there to manipulate his mind and alter it in a way that he starts believing that corrupt ways are the only way that will help him shelter its family’s honor. It is a shame that the ones who should be there to guard their women are the reason why they do not feel save enough even at their homes. All incidents that takes place and all those beliefs are not religious teachings but are traditional norms that society has manufactured. Honor killing is a tradition which is followed by people of small community due to lack of awareness and education. A women mistakes are unacceptable in our societies so they are never given a second chance and sacrificed in the name of honor. Fundamentally, their life’s decisions are taken by those men who do not even feel the worth of women they kill. With so much brutality women are sacrificed no matter if she was that man’s wife, sister, mother or any other female of his choice that dishonored him in anyway. The irritating thing about it is that the murderers are considered the grater men and appreciated for restoring their honor.

REFERECNES

1. https://www.academia.edu/29955385/Honor_Killing_An_Untold_Story_of_Violation_of_Human_Rights
2. https://punjabics.com/inner/inner/Parha%20Likha.php
3. https://www.ukessays.com/dissertation/examples/cultural-studies/honour-killing-women.php
4. https://www.af.org.pk/pub_files/1366345831.pdf
5. https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/honor-based-violence-killings-women-girls-pakistan/
6. https://www.government.nl/topics/honour-based-violence/question-and-answer/what-forms-of-honour-based-violence-are-there
7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honor_killing
8. https://www.dawn.com/news/1432634
9. https://tribune.com.pk/honour-killing/

The Legion of Honor was opened on November 11th, 1924. I didn’t visit it until October 26th, 2019. The museum was a lot of fun; I attended with Xareni Merino and my family. It only took us about 25 minutes until we were scolded. We tried to enter an area that we didn’t know wasn’t open to the public. The Legion of Honor is on top of a gorgeous hill well known as Land’s End. You can also see the famous Golden Gate Bridge from the 25¢ telescopes. This museum is home to the Joan of Arc at the Palace, Laocoön and His Sons, a bronze statue of El Cid Campeador, and a replica of the famous The Thinker. 

Something that interested me was the Laocoön and His Sons, outside the museum. Although it was really hard to get to, it was an amazing piece when I was able to get up close. Except if you don’t know much about art, and I don’t, it was really hard to identify this piece because it doesn’t have a plaque or something that identifies it. It was also a little hard to get to. People who don’t know where it is located will see it first outside two doors downstairs to the left. You cannot access the statue through those doors. You have to go all the way around the museum and onto a small gravel path to get to it. The Laocoön and His Sons is a statue of three men with maybe one or two snakes coiled around the three men.

The largest man is Laocoön and the smaller two are his sons. There are so many textures to this statue. With the cloth, their hair, the skin, and the snake’s body. You can also see that there is a triangular shape to the entire sculpture (picture 1) and a circular shape to it too (picture 2). The triangular shape is more obvious with the head at the peak, and the elbows of the two sons at the left and right angles. On the other hand, the circular shape is a little less obvious. There are no longer snakes coiled around the three men, but it’s clear that there once was. These snakes would have led our eyes clockwise around the statue. Even though the sons are younger and smaller than their father, they still have muscular bodies because they are still perfect. You can also see the cloth at the bottom of one of the son’s feet. You would think this is just meant to be decoration, but it’s holding that figure up.  This particular statue was probably the original first copy of the Roman copy. This copy was also found during the Renaissance during Michelangelo’s time. It was found in 1506 on Esquiline Hill in Rome. The Laocoön and His Sons were very influential in Renaissance art. Unlike the art of its time, the entire story is mostly in the front. It’s not like the Farnese Hercules where you need to walk around the entire sculpture to see the whole story.

INTRODUCTION

Honor killing is an act of killing which is being travelled in our societies related to any religion and any type of cultural followers, People just kill their loved ones who have caused any type of harm or disrespect for their family. Families feel shame of what the society will think about them and then in what they call necessary precautions they do such terrified things from which coming back is not possible and they kill each other just for the honor of their family. These things only happen due to the lack of religion knowledge or due to poor literacy rate of our society, because people get influenced of what others think they should do.

Every conflict leads itself to a situation in which 6 out of 10 people think of doing this inhuman and horrible thing. It is a kind of incident in which the whole society claps for the killer and don’t looks the other way. All of this should have been reduced since when the parliament passed an anti-honor killing law in 2016 or at least the criminals should not be forgiven by the family. When crimes of honor killing takes place within the close relatives then they are majority of the times forgiven which leads to further spread of this concept and a belief that getting away with honor killing is not a big deal. If actions would be taken and strictly followed it would decrease its rate enough to make others understand that this is nowhere near even a choice also it’s not their right at all. People even hoped that an idea that a death can be ‘honorable’ should be there as they are in somewhat way protecting their pride and family’s dignity. But a murder is a murder and mandatory punishment should be given to stop such evil acts and cruelty. Men and women are both the victims of honor killing. But in Pakistan honor killing of women is more aligned.

In our Islamic society which say blood-shed for blood-shed, killing for killing, people don’t understand this term and take the law in their own hands and then find themselves in barbaric situations. People should be given a proper knowledge about everything what our religion says and how we should handle the situation according to the present laws. So, that the culprits face will be shown to the society with his punishment and make sure that it never happens again. And the people who used to clap their hands will never do that in case of honor killing because it’s not good act to follow.

OBJECTIVES

Education should be a focus to prevent such events from accruing. Only 16% of women in Pakistan are literate. Illiteracy rates are very high in Pakistan. The education sector is suffering from inadequate financing and infrastructure. Education needs to be improved, more schools are needed in Pakistan so more girls/boys could attend school In Pakistan whenever people see that there’s an act of terror being accrued in any place they just change their steps from the happening direction to the other and stay quiet and do anything. People should know that if they will raise a voice against such an unpleasant event they will be protected and the law former and protectors will protect then and will stop such events. When issues are highlighted on any source they should be taken into consideration to take actions and help in figuring out solution for such issues. Newspapers and reports that do provide information should be studied regarding honor killing issues. Even though there is not always a lot of information about it which can be useful. Culture is also one of those factors which are the basis of such problems. Traditions are followed through generations where they oppress women and it continues for years ahead. People should be given education on what Islam teaches us not what we are following through generations. Pakistan is one of the twelve countries who spend 2% of their GDP on education sector. Education needs to be improved, more schools are needed in Pakistan so more of our generation could attend school.

Providing a proper understanding of honor killing as one of the forms of honor based violence of human rights.

There are also physical, mental issues due to violence can have a big impact on anyone’s life and an action should be taken immediately. Honor killing is also a form of domestic violence but the perpetrators are mostly not punished as they get bailed or are forgiven. Victim is blamed young or adult. Majority of the times the perpetrators are close relatives and common relations like husband, followed by brother or father. Religion is taken as an excuse to do what people wish when Islam is the only religion that provides freedom and right to women the most. Also it is not matter of Islam only but it also happens in Hinduism, Christianity, etc. Qisas (retribution), Diyat (blood money), Forgiving in the name of God by victim’s family. These are some of the reasons why perpetrator does not gets punished and the crime goes on. Mainstrea cases occur in rural areas and do not get enough attention to act on also lack of education and knowledge leads to such issues drastically. Violence of such kind majority of the times happens at home or by close relatives, so a check and balance on the activities of men and women by their families should be taken. In Pakistan Women are seen as commodity owned and controlled by their fathers, husbands and brothers. Women are not supposed to express any desires and feelings contrary to the wishes of their fathers, husbands, and brothers.

Evaluating the laws and regulations triggering honor killing. People should be given education to stand by the men and do any kind of work they want to do. They should be treated equally as men are. There should be practical reforms to enforce these rights in Pakistan. Which will clearly make people understand under which circumstances they need to go directly to the law makers.

The law tazir is a law which is implement on the culprit of honor killing included in the definition of fasad-fil-ard and a minimum penalty of 10 years as tazir laid down (with a maximum of 14 years), the awarding of a penalty in cases where the right of qisas has been waived or compounded has been left completely at the discretion of the court. As in the past, this provides the loophole for murderers to get away with minimal or no penalty. There should be tazir with High (MAXIMUM) penalties so that there will be no loophole for the murderers to get away from

Honor killings are an extreme form of gendered domestic violence. Most involve young, single female victims and an assailant who is a male relative however, they also include some types of intimate-partner homicides, as well as cases with male victims, victims outside the family, and female assailants. An honor killing is motivated by the desire to restore a social reputation that in the killer’s perception has been damaged by rumors about or the victim’s actual breach of conduct norms regulating female sexuality in the widest sense; the decision to use lethal violence is a collective family affair, rather than the action of an individual perpetrator. The underlying motive in all cases irrespective of the victims’ gender is the punishment or coercion of women.

It is not about religion, it’s about culture. Honor”-based violence is driven by cultural norms that consider girls and women to be the property of men. It is perpetuated by the idea that a woman’s body is a vessel of her family’s honor, rather than her own to do with as she chooses, and a systemic view of girls and women as inferior to boys and men. These murders are motivated by the belief that a girl is merely a symbol of her family’s honor and that symbol can be smudged. “Girls are born only to stay at home and to bring honor to the family by following family traditions,

Let’s take an example of recent previous year event” said the brother (and proud killer) of social-media star and victim Qandeel Baloch. And in this view, girls and women are expendable when that honor is smudged and the family symbol is infected.

The problem cannot be solved by creating laws. We have to challenge social norms. In order to stop this practice there need to be strict laws prohibiting honor based violence, but there also needs to be a change in the social norms that support the violence and an awareness of how to appropriately deal with victims. In Pakistan While creating new laws to address honor based violence is important, the system of this honor is deeply ingrained in culture. Pakistani policemen or law makers and investigative authorities from the same culture may not necessarily motivated to enforce the law because they norms. And thus the culture diversity does not exist because every one have the same thinking capabilities based on past norms and beliefs.

LITERATURE REVIEW

Honor killing is a topic which does not gets enough attention and majority of the times it is not even brought to forefront just to minimize it. The men in the family are behind such issues claiming to protect when they are actually ruining everything. Honor killing is not only common in a specific religion or cast or region but it occurs everywhere just because of the thinking and beliefs they have. Due to lack of education and domestic violence in rural areas violence is very much prevailing among them due to this women and girls adopt wrong ways to seek escape from their family and bad behavior of their husbands. People start to react even if that’s what they want or not because they think that this will make them part of a “Proud Society”.

Honor killing is very much dominant among South Asian countries where most of the population is poor and illiterate and are not even given enough freedom. If we look from Pakistan’s perspective then these types of cases are mostly seen in Sindh and Baluchistan. Quran has clearly mentioned about the actions taken against this issue. Due to modernization the actual laws which are given to us by Allah are not followed, international laws are followed rather than Islamic laws which has pretty much destroyed the roots of our country. Honor killing has different names but a locally known is “karo-kari” in which karo means dishonored men while kari means dishonored women. This illegal act leads to many problems that mostly result in mental illnesses and nobody takes this under consideration as mental illnesses are referred as being either totally senseless or just an excuse, which is wrong in so many ways as these mental conditions lead to future of the women and their children’s completely wrecked.

The concept of honor killing is social, cultural and moral underpinning that determines its preservation. Women are considered as the carriers of family’s honor and pride if they dare to break or disobey the rules built by societies they have damaged thier honor so killing them or punishing them is considered the only way to regain their pride. This concept is not followed only by some groups of people or a certain region but is a mindset of generations as it was present in the world since centuries. Women are objectified, threatened, killed, raped, and assaulted not by only outsiders but it commonly starts from home. They are considered to understand and stay quiet on almost every matter also their opinion or standing up for themselves is considered such a shame for the families. Women being superior in any way hurts the ego of the men as it makes them feel less “manly” of them when Islam teaches us things differently. Violence is a common factor as 1 out 3 women suffer from some sort of violence in her life by their intimate partner alone. Even in 21st century there are people with such narrow minded thinking that it seems like they are still living in the era where burying girls at their birth was considered normal. When Islam has given so much respect and high rank then why do men be given right to make them feel less of a person in any way, men are supposed to protect and when it comes to the relationship of husband and wife they are supposed to live in a way where they overcome each other’s flaws and build confidence instead of torturing of doubting each other’s intentions.

Many times the negative thinking of results in women suffering like women studying in a school, college or university where men do too also boils their blood like they might run away with them or do a shameful deed that will disrespect them in front of everyone. Women can achieve so much but instead of empowering their passion their passions are considered worthless and aimless because they are considered to stay back at home doing house chores and having minimal interactions with anyone.

Women and girls may lose honor through expressions of autonomy, particularly if this autonomy occurs within the area of sexuality. Men may be targeted either by the family of a woman who They are believed to have ‘dishonored’, in which case both parties may be at risk, or by their own family if they are believed to be homosexual.

Common triggers of honor killings based on the previous studies are;

• Refusing an arranged marriage.
• Having a relationship outside the approved group.
• Reporting domestic violence.
• Attempting to divorce.
• Refusing to divorce when ordered to do so by family members.
• Conflicts of honor, For example; concerning an inheritance.

It has been noticed in the previous studies that all of the above are most of the reasons honor killing occurs. Let’s get a brief on them Refusal of an arranged marriage is often a cause of an honor killing. The family which has preset the marriage risks disgrace if the marriage does not proceed. A woman attempting to obtain a divorce or separation without the consent of the husband/extended family can also be a trigger for honor killings. In cultures where marriages are set and goods are often exchanged between families, a woman’s desire to seek a divorce is often viewed as an insult to the men who negotiated the deal. By making their marital problems known outside the family, the women are seen as exposing the family to public disrepute.

Role of society according to literature reviews of researches, communities also play the role of initiator. It is according to the standards set by the community that Honor is held to be a vital ingredient, and that women are seen as the gateway to men Honor. The community constantly continues the subordinate role of women, and if a woman tries to break out of this role or behaves in a manner not acceptable, then it is community who condemns her and thereby condemns her family. It is the community that is intolerant of women behaving any differently, and it is community that expects the misbehaving woman’s family to handle her, i.e. remove the stain on their family honor. It is also the community that pressures and taunts men to control their family. Therefore, it can be said that it is the community that places the men under pressure to behave in a certain way. The community also plays a major role through its inactive role in not extending help to the potential victim or the victim’s family.

FRAMEWORK

Different steps should be taken like providing knowledge, awareness and building public opinion. Also media should provide information and spread awareness on issues like these so they understand that killing is not the solution to these problems and specific steps should be taken according to our religion to deal with them. Any kind of abuse should be stopped either physical, mental or sexual because a man is given the power to protect women not to harm or use his strength for any type of illegal or corrupt reason. A simple justification “BECAUSE HE IS A MAN” is not enough. Newspapers and other media platforms should highlight such topics as well as their solutions to spread enough awareness to build minds for future generations to stand against such incidents.

Education

As from the above studies the variables we have identified are all independent of only on dependent variable which is honor killing. Let’s discuss each of the independent variable and its relation with the dependent variable one by one. Society have a great impact on the people to make big decisions as people share their opinions about different thing and often share such opinions on things which they will never do by themselves but they don’t know about the certain people who are listening to them and will make their decisions based on their opinion because they lack at self-decision making.

We are no one to question the norms and beliefs of the society. Norms and beliefs of a society are being passed from one generation to the other for hundreds of years. In old times people used to have a clear sight on the understanding of the norms and beliefs. On now which people have a lot of misconceptions. Because of our own self-made firqas and people who are the face of different Islamic parties share their opinions differently. This needs to be controlled because through this narrowness we have begun to question the people we love and ourselves

Education rate in Pakistan needs to be improved because there is a huge amount illiterate people who are not educated and have Zero percent of knowledge about their laws and their regulations. Due to that they are bound to themselves and take most of the matters to their hands and think like if the tell anyone a stream of shame will be spread about their families. So; they keep quiet and make decisions like killing someone just for the sake of self-respect in front of the society. These things would have never happened if from the first day our media had portrayed these type of crimes correctly. And had not let society to promote such drastic events.

DISCUSSION

Women are victims and have been victims since centuries back. Firstly they were used to be buried alive then were also burned alive or tortured to death. Education level being low plays a vital role in making things go in this direction as men do not get enough knowledge about how to treat a women and how to behave with them. They are compelled to believe according to what they want them to be since birth that they are the protectors and saviors of their family’s women when they actually are being brainwashed to abuse them and torture them. Society blames females even if she is a child and believe that she herself is the reason why men have to put a stop to their unacceptable actions like marrying someone of their choice, getting divorced or even rapped. Men victimize those females who they know or are from their family because they sometimes feel some kind of right to attack them and control them according to their desires. There is a greater number of victims who are married as they are targeted of domestic violence on daily basis in Pakistan. Married women are tortured by their in-laws for different reasons like not giving them a boy child or meeting with her family too often etc. So basically major perpetrators are husbands.

Women also get maltreated by other females. Just like mother-in-law of a female starts to form feuds between husband and wife with different things so her son will only follow her rules and regulations and would oppress her wife whenever she wants. In many countries including Pakistan women are killed by their husbands followed by their brothers which seems so absurd but still happens. Fathers kill their own daughter when they should be protected by them as he is the first men in her life who she trusts and loves first so it seems unbelievable but happens. Honor killing is the reaction of one or more people whose been dishonored so the issue that occurs is that the punishment is chosen by the families or that one person which is whatever they wish to due to her. In that vicious moment it does not matters that girl is either a young girl, a teenager or an adult. Sometimes even if it hurts the person to actually kill, he gets impelled to do such deed in the pressure of family or friends even just society.

Media plays a vital role when it comes to highlighting such incidents and spreading awareness about it. In some way it is our media’s responsibility to showcase such forbidding doings so people get knowledge about it to protect themselves from these kinds of things to happen to themselves also for them to stand against such violent actions to safeguard those who need our help. Media faces a lot of criticism some of the times just for portraying and bringing such matters to forefront which are taboo but it helps to spread awareness. Media really helps in building the minds and as well as develops thinking of its audience that is why it is crucial to let them see what would stop this cruelness. In honor killing the idea that is in mind is that victim was the one to be punished and it is hard to gather around that how many females suffer from such discrimination every year. When women see such horrifying stories they get mentally tortured because they also star to get upset and stress about their safety. Women starts to feel unsafe in a society. It also not only affects the mental capabilities of a woman but also physically. Such categorized behavior has existed from many centuries by every kind of tradition almost. Women are always objectified as the puppets who should follow what men want because they are the only ones who know how to safeguard them and are more superior to them in any way.

Women are killed if she gives birth to another girl, she is tortured if she wants to pursue her ambitions and she is considered to obey not to give her own opinion or even share her thoughts because they are thought to be worthless. No matter how much modernization does comes the concept of thinking that women have no values or she is worthless does not goes away because such mindsets are passed down through generations. Like her even being raped is considered her fault because she dressed a certain way to was in public but in reality men do not even feel ashamed of their actions or have a second thought when they rape a 3 month old child which is absurd.

Women should be empowered by men so they would stand with them shoulder by shoulder and building lives for each other. Women are the most precious creation of Allah and no one has a right to dishonor that.

RECOMMENDATIONS

There is a need for major education and awareness about the issue and the law. Clearly, current methods have not resulted in the information being spread far and wide. Media plays an important role, and not just to report the latest honor killing, but also providing details about the law and its implications. Children, especially, but also adults, need to be educated about honor killings on some forum or the other. The State needs to take a stronger role to ensure dissemination of information. One suggestion relating to the police could be that the police should hold a meeting with the community every week to discuss different communal issues and different laws.

The legal profession has its existing problems of time delays, corruption and transparency, as is generally known, but also it is not always sensitive to the situation regarding honor killings. Finding that honor killing can be used as a method for mitigation of sentences to murderers is one such example. It is necessary to establish in the courts that it is not acceptable to use women for holding the man’s honor, and to emphasize that violence against women for any reason should never be condoned in our society in any way.

A open outreach program needs to be started to provide shelter and protection for women who run away from possible murders. The community cannot stay silent any longer. The community needs to be engaged in constant and repeated discussion on the monstrous nature of the crime of honor killing in order to bring about a meaningful social change within the Pakistani society

ABSTRACT

Honor killing is a kind of issue or a situation that humans has to face. An already difficult world is made crueler by men by such inhuman deeds. This kind of issue have not been brought up so much because it is not considered an issue rather it is just considered a matter of pride being restored. The people who did such acts felt proud of themselves because they reestablished the family’s pride and morality. Not only a murderer is involved because sometimes a group of people around him are also there to manipulate his mind and alter it in a way that he starts believing that corrupt ways are the only way that will help him shelter its family’s honor. It is a shame that the ones who should be there to guard their women are the reason why they do not feel save enough even at their homes. All incidents that takes place and all those beliefs are not religious teachings but are traditional norms that society has manufactured. Honor killing is a tradition which is followed by people of small community due to lack of awareness and education. A women mistakes are unacceptable in our societies so they are never given a second chance and sacrificed in the name of honor. Fundamentally, their life’s decisions are taken by those men who do not even feel the worth of women they kill. With so much brutality women are sacrificed no matter if she was that man’s wife, sister, mother or any other female of his choice that dishonored him in anyway. The irritating thing about it is that the murderers are considered the grater men and appreciated for restoring their honor.

REFERECNES

1. https://www.academia.edu/29955385/Honor_Killing_An_Untold_Story_of_Violation_of_Human_Rights
2. https://punjabics.com/inner/inner/Parha%20Likha.php
3. https://www.ukessays.com/dissertation/examples/cultural-studies/honour-killing-women.php
4. https://www.af.org.pk/pub_files/1366345831.pdf
5. https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/honor-based-violence-killings-women-girls-pakistan/
6. https://www.government.nl/topics/honour-based-violence/question-and-answer/what-forms-of-honour-based-violence-are-there
7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honor_killing
8. https://www.dawn.com/news/1432634
9. https://tribune.com.pk/honour-killing/

In India, Honor killing is a traditional crime in which they kill women who perceive women as bearers of the prestige of the family. This tradition in India is stereotypical, many young people in India are killed every year, and around 5000 women are murdered owing to “honor killing”.

Honor killing is a belief and tradition of people in India and they think of women as objects and do not have any rights over their life. Most of the honor killing cases come from countries like India and Pakistan where the woman is considered a significant vessel of the family’s prestige.

In this research paper, I will cover one of the most sensitive issues of traditional crime, even in the 21st century we have to agree to the fact that such heinous crime still takes place and ironically the other women of the family also take part in setting up the murder of other women of their own family. India is the largest democracy in the world but still, people don’t have rights and freedom in their own lives.

The people have to understand that there is no honor in taking someone else’s life.

Every year around the world we get so many honor-based killings but in India although, there are preventive measures and some punishments for honor killing there are no strict laws regarding this heinous crime. Even after there is an increased number of violence against young people in India the people are still stuck in their stereotypical cultural beliefs. And the crime against women of the family is getting normalized.

Introduction

Honor killing is the murder of a female family member by the male members of the family. In the defense, the criminals justify their actions by saying that the female member brought dishonor to the family’s prestige by her actions.

In previous times, the work that female members of the family did was closely observed. The maintenance of the female’s virginity or “sexual purity” is considered to be the important responsibility of the other family members, especially the male relatives- at first, the father and the brothers had to take care of it, and after marriage, the responsibility comes to the husband. The cases of honor killing usually happened because they have engaged in a sexual relationship with a man who is not their husband even if she is the victim of rape. Apart from these reasons, there are other reasons too such as asking for divorce and refusing to get married.

Although such crimes are widely suspected and underreported, the United Nations Population Fund evaluates that there are around 5000 women who are killed annually for the honor of their families. When a man is found guilty, the defendant could claim that the crime had been committed to restore sullied family honor and petition the court for a reduced sentence.

It is a heinous crime against women and ironically, female relatives often defend the murder and are involved to set it up.

And currently, we may have preventive measures and some laws for this do not have strict laws against honor killing. In this research paper, I will further explain to you the historical background, case study, initiatives we should take against this, and the conclusion for honor killing.

Historical background

1. Origins of honor killing:-

Matthew A. Goldstein, J.D. has noted Honor killings were encouraged in ancient Rome. The origin of this heinous crime and control over women is evidenced throughout the previous times in the cultures and traditions of different regions. In Roman laws, they gave full control to the men over the children and women of the family. Under such laws, the lives of the females were under the discretion of the men in their families. They also justified the crime by stating that women who are guilty of adultery can be killed by their husbands or the male members of the family. Crimes related to honor were known in medieval Europe, where the Jewish system supported the death by stoning for an adulterous woman and her partner.

Nowadays such practices are common in the regions of North Africa and the Middle East.

Sharif Khanna, who is a professor of anthropology states “Honor killing is a complicated issue that cuts deep into the history of Arab society.” In patriarchal times, in some Arab countries under Ottoman rule the murderer could sprinkle the blood of the victim over his clothes to show his increased honor.

2. Honor killing- Worldwide:-

There is no uniqueness or shocking factor to any one culture or religion when the criminals justify such heinous crimes with the notions of honor and shame. Also, the violence based on honor is reflected in patriarchal events in many countries. In Western societies, dueling was the practice through which claims of masculine honor were made and understood. In Canada, dueling continued in the late 1800s.

Also, for example, the fifth wife of Henry VIII was killed because of the allegations of adultery. Desdemona was slain in Shakespeare’s Desdemona, and Romeo and Juliet portrayed an ancient family feud over honor in British literature. Integrity was vital to King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. In Ancient Roman times, the senior male within a household retained the right to kill a related woman if she was engaged in pre-marital or extra-marital relations. According to Blackstone, the Roman law justified homicide ‘when committed in defense of the chastity either of oneself or relations’.

Honor-based violence can be between men only and sometimes involves women as collaborators. However, it appears to be perpetrated almost exclusively by men against women and children whom they consider to ‘belong’ to them. It generally appears in the following sets of circumstances:

• Adultery
• Pre-marital sex or having a child out of wedlock (although honor may be restored through a ‘shotgun wedding’)
• Disobeying parents, or
• Patriotism
• Personal Insult
• Defaulting on Monetary Debts (typically between men).

In Ancient Rome, a household’s senior male held the authority to execute a related lady who was involved in extramarital or premarital affairs. According to Blackstone, homicide was allowed under Roman law ‘when undertaken in defense of one’s own or one’s relations’ chastity.’

Violent acts motivated by honor can be exclusively between men, or they can include women as collaborators. It appears to be almost exclusively committed by men against women and children whom they regard to be ‘theirs”.

3. Honor killing in Islamic regions:-

In Arab countries, the tradition of honor killing extends back to pre-Islamic times across several Arab countries when Arab settlers occupied a region beside Sindh known as Baluchistan (in Pakistan). The patriarchal norms of the Arab residents allowed the live burial of newborn daughters. These customs date back to ancient Babylon’s history when the common belief was that a woman’s “sexual purity” was the family’s responsibility.

The Quran did not mention honor killing or the Hadiths. It refers specifically to the legal punishment against women by the family. Which is forbidden by the Islamic Law.

The execution of Saudi Arabian princess Misha’al is an example of an honor killing in which the punishment was ordered straight by her grandpa after she admitted extramarital affairs, instead of obeying any Islamic religious court procedure.

These laws are observed by various people. Even though the vast majority of Islamic experts disagree, some Arabs claim it is their right under both tradition and Sharia (through the procedure of al-urf) (fuqaha). Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has slammed the custom as ‘un-Islamic,’ although anyone who committed honor-based killings escaped light sentence under Iranian law.

Case study

1. Manoj Babli honor killing case:-

The Manoj Babli honor killing case is about a newly married couple named Manoj and Babli in June 2007. Both sides of the family lived in Karoran village, Kaithal. In 2005 Manoj and Babli started to show interest in each other. Manoj was four years older than Babli.

On April 7, 2007, Manoj and Babli decided to run to Chandigarh and got married in the Durga temple without their family’s consent although their commitment to each other was willful and consensual from both sides. Babli’s family was so upset with the marriage that they sought help from the local khap panchayat, which canceled it. The Khap also threatened Manoj’s family with a social boycott. Anyone who maintained relations with them would face a monetary penalty of Rs. 25,000. Ompati attempted to persuade her family that Babli had done nothing wrong and that she and Manoj would soon return home. In their Karora village in Kaithal district, Haryana, a khap panchayat (khap), a religious caste-based council among Jats, ordered the killing. The Khap issued a ruling forbidding marriages that are not by community norms. Several Indian states, including Haryana, Punjab, western Uttar Pradesh, and parts of Rajasthan, have caste-based councils that have been in operation with government support for years. In any case, the state government voiced no concern about the Khap panchayat’s decision.

The Khap panchayat’s judgment was based on the idea that Manoj and Babli belonged to the Banwala gotra, a Jat community, and thereby were considered siblings despite not being connected directly, and thus any union between them would be illegal and incestuous. Despite this, the pair married, after which they were kidnapped and murdered by Babli’s relatives.

Judgment- The five criminals were put to death by a Karnal district court in March 2010, representing the first time an Indian court had done so in an honor killing case. The Khap leadership who ordered the killings but did not take part in them was given a life sentence, while the driver engaged in the kidnapping was given a seven-year sentence. In response to the deaths of Manoj and Babli, the UPA-led federal government planned to submit an amendment to the Indian Penal Code (IPC), making honor killings a ‘distinct offense,’ according to Home Minister P. Chidambaram.

Initiatives taken against honor killing

In August 2009 some women’s organizations with a legal cell of All India Democratic Women’s Association in consultation presented a written law named the Prevention which is based on the Honor and Tradition Bill in front of the government.

According to the bill, the violation of the rights of the couples tells about the different crimes such as murder and gives the preventive measures and degrees of punishments for this heinous crime.

In March 2018, the apex court provided the measures to prevent this customary killing in India and the guidelines were to be followed and to wait for the proper law to be passed. Although the Supreme Court has passed the guidelines there is an important need for proper law and punishment, and justice should be served as quickly as possible in such cases as justice delayed is justice denied. Proper implementation of strict laws is required.

In the end, we still do not have proper and strict laws against honor killing.

Conclusion:

Because of the stereotypes and traditions such crimes happen, honor killing is a customary crime that needs to be prevented because as earlier mentioned around 5000 innocent women are killed in the name of honor and according to their families they have brought shame to the family due to different types of reasons, for example, violation of women’s rights, gender discrimination, poor education or no education and lack of awareness there are so many unreported cases.

India as a country of traditions and culture must pass strict laws against such crimes and prohibit them as it also affects the civilization or development of the country.

We must respect every caste, religion, and gender stand by each other without any type of discrimination,n and grow together as a country.

“no religion or culture can be invoked to validate the evil practice of honor killing.”

We need strict laws and punishment against honor killing. we as human beings should take a stand for other human beings.