'Honour': Crimes, Paradigms, and Violence Against Women

by Lynn Welchman

This book arises from the practical insights and experiences of individuals and organisations addressing so-called ‘honour crimes‘ in different geographic and social contexts, including ‘honour killings‘ and interference with the right to marry. Its purpose is to support human rights activists, policymakers and lawyers by explaining what such crimes are, how they vary from country to country, and what strategies are needed to combat them. Drawing on original case material from a wide range of countries, it identifies and analyses cross-cutting thematic issues and seeks to develop a human rights based framework as an alternative to a culturally relativist approach. It urges the reform of many national legal systems which enable men to rely on the pretext of ‘honour crimes‘ in order to get a reduced sentence. The contributors take the position that the concept of ‘crimes of honour‘ should have no special legal recognition but should be treated as any other acts of violence against women - they have no justification.

Genres: Nonfiction, Feminism

399 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 1, 2005

Reviews

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I want to smack people right now. Not because the book is bad, but because it makes you want to smack people.

This is a collection of essays dealing with honour killings in particular but also other honor crimes. It focuses on a global sscale, so it covers the Middle East as well as South America, Europe, and Asia. The essays vary slightly in style and by and large are scholarly in style. I would reccomend reading either Murder in the Name of Honor: The True Story of One Woman's Heroic Fight Against an Unbelievable Crime or Price of Honor: Muslim Women Lift the Veil of Silence on the Islamic World,Newly updated first because both books give background that will help when reading this book.