Honor killing

Honor killing is the barbaric practice of murdering a woman in order to restore a family's "honour" after the woman had "dishonored" it through contact with a man other than her immediate family. Especially distasteful to Western Christians, Jews and also some 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.

The practice is especially prevalent in countries which have little contact (or poor relations) with the Christianized West.

• "Mahmud Ahmad Ghazi, director of the International Islamic University in Islamabad, was interviewed in a BBC film on the honor killing of women, in which Pakistan has established a sad record. Ghazi coldly defended those feudal practices as Islamic, an opinion Islamic scholars all over the world mostly dispute." (Pakistan Versus the Last Superpower: A Former U.S. Ally Moves Toward Jihadism and Isolation - World&I magazine, March 2001, Page 296)

• "We know of some women who are pushed to become suicide bombers," says Yariv Ovadia, consul for communications and public affairs with the Israeli Consulate in Los Angeles, California. "If you dishonor your family, you will be killed anyway, so you can save something of your honor by becoming a suicide bomber. (ibid)

• It is important to remember, however, that honor killings find no sanction whatsoever in the Koran ... in Islamic prophetic tradition and law in general, there is a very strong presumption of women’s chastity along with numerous safeguards to prevent any imputation of unchastity. Within such a context, honor killings are utterly criminal.

See also

• Violence against women