Forced Marriage and 'Honour' Killings in Britain

Forced Marriage and 'Honour' Killings in Britain
Author: Christina Julios
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 181
Release: 2016-03-09
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1317134176

This book explores the contemporary phenomenon of forced marriage and 'honour' killings in Britain. Set against a background of increasing 'honour'-based violence within the country's South Asian and Muslim Diasporas, the book traces the development of the 'honour' question over the past two decades. It accordingly witnesses unprecedented changes in public awareness and government policy including ground-breaking 'honour'-specific legislation and the criminalisation of forced marriage. All of which makes Britain an important context for the study of this now indigenous and self-perpetuating social problem. In considering the scale of the challenge and its underlying causes, attention is paid to the intersections of gendered power structures that disadvantage female members of 'honour' cultures as well as feminist theories that seek to explain them. The book features five key case-studies of 'honour' killings and draws from a wide range of narratives including those of 'honour' violence survivors, grassroots service providers and legislators. Such myriad of perspectives reveals the complexity of the 'honour' issue and the deep ideological divisions that characterise it. With the UK's multiculturalist discourse unable to reconcile protecting patriarchal minority cultures with safeguarding gender equality and human rights, the book raises fundamental questions about the country's future direction. Following a long trend of state-sponsored integrationist policies, the government's response to the 'honour' question points decisively in the direction of a post-multicultural British nation.

Crimes of the Community

Crimes of the Community
Author: James Brandon
Publisher:
Total Pages: 182
Release: 2008
Genre: Family & Relationships
ISBN:

In recent years, honour crimes have received an increasing amount of interest from the media, the police and politicians. This has been fuelled by the extensive coverage of the murder of several young Kurdish and Pakistani women by their families. This growing public concern has been largely welcomed by women's groups and has prompted the government to take steps to tackle these crimes. However the media's focus on honour killings and, to a lesser extent, forced marriages and Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) has obscured the true scale of honour-based crime. Honour killings represent only the tip of the iceberg in terms of violence and abuse perpetrated against women in the name of honour.

'Honour' Killing and Violence

'Honour' Killing and Violence
Author: Aisha K. Gill
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 260
Release: 2014-05-07
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 1137289562

In this interdisciplinary collection leading experts and scholars from criminology, psychology, law and history provide a compelling analysis of practices and beliefs that lead to violence against women, men and children in the name 'honour'.

Domestic Violence, Forced Marriage and "honour"-based Violence

Domestic Violence, Forced Marriage and
Author: Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Home Affairs Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
Total Pages: 174
Release: 2008
Genre: Law
ISBN: 9780215520869

Domestic violence is the largest cause of morbidity worldwide in women aged 19-44, greater than war, cancer or motor vehicle accidents. According to the British Crime Survey, 1 in 4 women and 1 in 6 men in the UK will experience domestic violence at some point in their lives. The vast majority of serious and recurring violence is perpetuated by men towards women. Domestic violence accounts for 16 per cent of all violent incidents reported to or recorded by the police. Around 2 women a week are killed by their partner or former partner. Domestic violence is estimated to have cost the UK £25.3 billion in 2005-06. Home Office figures suggest there are around 12 "honour" killings each year, but the total is likely to be far higher. The Government's Forced Marriage Unit deals with 5,000 enquiries and 300 cases of forced marriage each year. 30 per cent of these concern under-18s, and 15 per cent are men. The Committee concludes the Government approach to all forms of domestic violence is disproportionately focused on criminal justice responses at the expense of effective prevention and early intervention. There are also serious concerns about the amount of refuge space for those fleeing violence, and the provision of domestic violence services is a "postcode lottery". Availability of Probation Service perpetrator programmes is so poor some courts cannot use them as sentencing options. The Department for Children, Schools and Families should introduce an explicit statutory requirement for schools to educate children about domestic and "honour"-based violence and forced marriage. Front-line professionals - teacher, health professionals, visa entry clearance officers, police, judges and magistrates - who come into contact with victims should receive accredited training to enable them to identify abuse and refer the victim to appropriate support.

Honour Based Crimes and the Law

Honour Based Crimes and the Law
Author: Mukaddes Gorar
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 196
Release: 2021-05-10
Genre: Law
ISBN: 1000386988

Honour based violence and abuse manifests itself in different forms, and this book offers a comprehensive understanding of this phenomenon. This book argues that the limits of honour crimes must be defined more widely so that they include conducts and behaviours that originate from the patriarchal notion of honour, such as honour based oppression and breast ironing. The book provides a critical analysis and synthesis of the law in England and Wales and in the international human rights sphere. The relevant domestic legislation and cases are examined to reflect on whether adequate protection is provided for the victims and potential victims of honour based violence and abuse. Since honour based violence is a violation of human rights, the relevant international human rights law is examined to illustrate the perception of such crimes in the international arena. The effectiveness of any remedy for victims of honour based violence and abuse depends on its capability to change deep rooted behaviours in communities with honour based patriarchal values. This book argues that the law does not provide the effective impact required, in part due to patriarchal structures, and that more efforts should be dedicated to changes in education. It is held that there is a need for an educational programme that is especially designed to tackle violence and promote gender equality. The book will be essential reading for academics, researchers and policy-makers working in the areas of Human Rights Law, Criminal Law and Gender Studies.

Shamed

Shamed
Author: Sarbjit Kaur Athwal
Publisher: Random House
Total Pages: 322
Release: 2013-06-20
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1448133971

In 1998, Sarbjit Athwal was called by her husband to attend a family meeting. It looked like just another family gathering. An attractive house in west London, a large dining room, two brothers, their mother, one wife. But the subject they were discussing was anything but ordinary. At the head of the group sat the elderly mother. She stared proudly around, smiling at her children, then raised her hand for silence. ‘It’s decided then,’ the old lady announced. ‘We have to get rid of her.’ ‘Her’ was Surjit Athwal, Sarbjit’s sister-in-law. Within three weeks of that meeting, Surjit was dead: lured from London to India, drugged, strangled, and her body dumped in the Ravi River, never to be seen again. After the killing, risking her own life, Sarbjit fought secretly for justice for nine long, scared years. Eventually, with immense bravery, she became the first person within a murderer’s family ever to go into open court in an honour killing trial as the Prosecution’s key witness, and the first to waive her anonymity in such a trial. As a result of her testimony, the trial led to the first successful prosecution of an honour killing without the body ever being found. But her story doesn’t end there. Since the trial, her life has been threatened; her own husband arrested after an allegation of intimidation. Shamed is a story of fear and of horror – but also of immense courage, and a woman who risked everything to see that justice was done.

The Real Stories behind Honour Killing

The Real Stories behind Honour Killing
Author: Shahnaz Shoro
Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
Total Pages: 293
Release: 2019-03-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1527530531

Honour killing, as it is widely understood, is the cold-blooded murder of a woman or a man involved with her, by the male members of her household in order to cleanse the reputation of the family, clan, community or tribe. This violent tradition in the name of religion, custom and culture continues to be carried out in a significantly large part of the world. The majority of people still believe that honour killings happen for reasons such as marriage from choice or a love affair of a kinswoman, rape, a demand for divorce from a woman, or the birth of a female child, all of which are perceived as bringing shame on the family. However, current research on honour killing suggests that there are a number of intriguing and very cleverly knitted plots of jealousy, greed, violence and murder which show that, in the name of honour, various other purposes are being served and people are killed in ways which give the impression that they are honour killings. By collecting data from people involved in such situations, this book opens a Pandora’s box, showing that such killings are carried out not to assuage the hurt honour of a patriarchal society, but to serve a variety of malign intentions, goals and agendas. It will serve to let the world comprehend the phenomenon of honour-related violence where culture and crime unite under the umbrella of highly discriminating laws against women. This book consists of twenty-six testimonies from those involved in honour killings, bringing together interviews with killers, victims and the falsely accused.

'Honour'

'Honour'
Author: Lynn Welchman
Publisher: Zed Books Ltd.
Total Pages: 329
Release: 2013-07-04
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1848136986

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.