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'''Honor killing''' is the barbaric practice of murdering a woman in order to restore a family's "honor" after the woman had "dishonored" it through contact with a man other than her immediate family. Especially distasteful to Western [[Christians]], [[Jews]] and also [[Atheists]] and [[Agnostics]], is the idea that even a victim of [[rape]] is considered to have brought dishonor and will be punished in this way.  

'''Honor killing''' is the barbaric practice of murdering a woman in order to restore a family's "honor" after the woman had "dishonored" it through real or imagined sexual misconduct. Especially distasteful to Western [[Christians]], [[Jews]] and also [[Atheists]] and [[Agnostics]], is the idea that even a victim of [[rape]] is considered to have brought dishonor and will be punished in this way.  

* Anthropologist [[James Emery]] found that, "[[Palestinian]] culture continues to equate the value of a woman's life to her inviolable [[purity]]. Whatever her progress, ancient traditions still engulf her. Should she become the unfortunate victim of rumor or [[rape]], she'll be sacrificed, just as her ancestors who swept across the [[Arabian Desert]] [[sacrifice]]d sheep and other animals in the name of [[honor]] and [[Islam]]."<ref>''World&I'' May 2003, p. 190</ref>

* Anthropologist [[James Emery]] found that, "[[Palestinian]] culture continues to equate the value of a woman's life to her inviolable [[purity]]. Whatever her progress, ancient traditions still engulf her. Should she become the unfortunate victim of rumor or [[rape]], she'll be sacrificed, just as her ancestors who swept across the [[Arabian Desert]] [[sacrifice]]d sheep and other animals in the name of [[honor]] and [[Islam]]."<ref>''World&I'' May 2003, p. 190</ref>

The practice is especially prevalent in highly traditional societies, ranging from Islamic societies to Catholic Brazil and Eastern orthodox Greece.  When these people migrate to Western Europe or the United States or Canada, they sometimes bring these traditions along or tolerate their fellow immigrants who commit an honor killing.

The practice is especially prevalent in highly traditional societies, ranging from Islamic communities of the Middle East to Catholic Brazil and Eastern Orthodox Greece.  When these people migrate to Western Europe or the United States or Canada, they sometimes bring these traditions along or tolerate their fellow immigrants who commit an honor killing.

* Most schools of Islamic jurisprudence legitimate the killing by the family of a married person caught in the act adultery. Under Syrian law, an honor killing is not murder.<ref>"Honor, Crimes of." in ''Encyclopedia of Women & Islamic Cultures: Family, law, and politics'' ed. by Suad Joseph, (2005)[http://books.google.com/books?id=4Uyypm6T7ZsC&pg=RA1-PA221&dq=%22Under+Syrian+law,+an+honor+killing+is+not+murder,+and+the+man+who+commits+it+%22&lr=&as_drrb_is=q&as_minm_is=0&as_miny_is=&as_maxm_is=0&as_maxy_is=&num=30&as_brr=0#v=onepage&q=&f=false online edition]

* Most schools of Islamic jurisprudence legitimate the killing by the family of a married person caught in the act adultery. Under Syrian law, an honor killing is not murder.<ref>"Honor, Crimes of." in ''Encyclopedia of Women & Islamic Cultures: Family, law, and politics'' ed. by Suad Joseph, (2005)[http://books.google.com/books?id=4Uyypm6T7ZsC&pg=RA1-PA221&dq=%22Under+Syrian+law,+an+honor+killing+is+not+murder,+and+the+man+who+commits+it+%22&lr=&as_drrb_is=q&as_minm_is=0&as_miny_is=&as_maxm_is=0&as_maxy_is=&num=30&as_brr=0#v=onepage&q=&f=false online edition]

"There came to him (the Holy Prophet) a woman from Ghamid and said: Allah's Messenger, I have committed adultery, so purify me. ... And she was put in a ditch up to her chest and he commanded people <b>and they stoned her</b>. Khalid b Walid came forward with a stone which he flung at her head and there spurted blood on the face of Khalid and so he abused her." <ref>Hadith of the holy prophet(may peace be upon him) [http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/fundamentals/hadithsunnah/muslim/017.smt.html#017.4206]</ref>

"There came to him (the Holy Prophet) a woman from Ghamid and said: Allah's Messenger, I have committed adultery, so purify me. ... And she was put in a ditch up to her chest and he commanded people <b>and they stoned her</b>. Khalid b Walid came forward with a stone which he flung at her head and there spurted blood on the face of Khalid and so he abused her." <ref>Hadith of the holy prophet(may peace be upon him) [http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/fundamentals/hadithsunnah/muslim/017.smt.html#017.4206]</ref>

==Honor killing in the U.S.==

==Honor killing in the U.S.==

Honor killings occasionally happen among immigrant groups new to the United States.  It is likely that most happen when the woman is sent back home and then disappears.  

Honor killings occasionally happen among immigrant groups new to the United States.  It is likely that most happen when the woman is sent back home and then disappears.  

==The Searchers==

==The Searchers==

Honor killing has never been tolerated in the U.S., apart from the the lynching of black men accused or raping white women, which was tolerated by some in the era of [[Jim Crow]].   

Honor killing has never been tolerated in the U.S., apart from the the lynching of black men accused or raping white women, which was tolerated by some in the era of [[Jim Crow]].   

One of the greatest of all American films deals with the topic. In ''The Searchers'' (1956), Ethan Edwards [[John Wayne]], a traditionalistic ex-Confederate, has returned to Texas to discover Comanches have raided his brother's ranch, killing or abducting the family. He tracks his young niece Debbie (Natalie Wood). After a five year search Ethan discovers Debbie has been turned into a squaw and decides to execute her as an honor killing. He is encouraged by some, and denounced by others, especially Debbie's brother Martin Pawley, played by Jeffrey Hunter.

One of the greatest of all American films deals with the topic. In ''The Searchers'' (1956), Ethan Edwards [[John Wayne]], a traditionalistic ex-Confederate, has returned to Texas to discover Comanches have raided his brother's ranch, killing or abducting the family. He tracks his young niece Debbie (Natalie Wood). After a five year search Ethan discovers Debbie has been turned into a squaw and decides to execute her as an honor killing. He is encouraged by some, and denounced by others, especially Debbie's brother Martin Pawley, played by Jeffrey Hunter.

==Further reading==

==Further reading==

* Besse, Susan K. "Crimes of Passion: The Campaign against Wife Killing in Brazil, 1910-1940," ''Journal of Social History,'' Vol. 22, No. 4 (Summer, 1989), pp. 653-666 [http://www.jstor.org/stable/3787542 in JSTOR]

* Besse, Susan K. "Crimes of Passion: The Campaign against Wife Killing in Brazil, 1910-1940," ''Journal of Social History,'' Vol. 22, No. 4 (Summer, 1989), pp. 653-666 [http://www.jstor.org/stable/3787542 in JSTOR]