Definition of Honor Crimes

The concept of “Honour Crimes”, according to Welchman & Hossain (2005), can be defined as a gender crime that involves a varied set of forms of violence against women, in the name of social honour, including “honour killings”, various assaults, the imposition of confinement or imprisonment, male control over women, by family members and/or spouses, in the choice of marriage and in the actual, suspected or potential sexual conduct of women.

Every year, approximately 5,000 girls and women around the world are victims of honour crimes. It is a crime that affects women and/or men of different religions, ages, financial and social conditions, different educational backgrounds, and different geographical locations. (Meetoo & Mirza, 2007; United Nations, 2010). They are referred to as violent acts committed by one or more perpetrators, usually male, to restore their family’s honour in response to what they perceive to be a violation by the victim, usually female, of family honour codes or allegedly inappropriate behaviour that is believed to have brought shame on the family (WHO, 2022; Kulwicki, 2002). Among the behaviours seen as inappropriate that lead to the commission of honour crimes are marriage without the victim and/or family’s consent or marrying outside the family class to which they belong; sexual relations before marriage, whether real or alleged by the rest of the community; or even the simple use of technology, such as mobile phones to communicate with other people, which generates distrust on the part of the family (D’Lima, 2020).