Although there have been several changes in the law to acknowledge the issue and hold the perpetrators to account, Pakistan remains a society in which honour killing (ghairat kay naam pey qatal) continues.
Before we go on let us address the terminology -- when we use the phrase ‘honour killing’ we lend some validation to what is essentially a crime of murder. This needs to stop. A more accurate description would be ‘murder committed upon the pretext of honour by family’.
Using words like ‘honour’ in the context of murder doesn’t just severely downplay the atrocity of the crime but also, for some people, legitimises the actions of the murderer by satiating a sense of misplaced justice, the inference being that there is no smoke without fire.
Although there is limited police data available, there are no clear statistics regarding the specific number of honour killings committed annually in Pakistan. Family members have been known to mislead the authorities by describing such deaths as suicide or natural causes. What is clear is that in the majority of reported cases victims are women and perpetrators are men -- to be more specific, men of the family or men murdering at the behest of the family. These murders are not committed by random strangers nor violent opportunists. The perpetrators are fathers, brothers, husbands, men who have handed out Eid gifts, nurtured their children, watched them grow within the family, men who have a sense of who their victims are. However, often this crime also involves a degree of collusion and agreement from the wider family or even the community.
Some of the well-documented cases have seen the most innocuous of behaviours interpreted as ‘inappropriate’, ‘unacceptable’ or ‘dishonourable’, behaviours such as clapping at a family wedding. Other breaches include wanting to leave an abusive marriage, being the victim of sexual assault, and all too often stories of punishment and retribution for marrying someone of your own choosing. Mostly the murders are linked to the idea that a woman has transgressed perceived notions of morality and in some cases specifically sexual morality. It is always the perpetrator who determines when sensibilities have been overstepped and traditions breached, it is their perception of what is right and wrong which is the trigger.
The issue has even extended beyond borders with cases being reported in diaspora communities, including America, Canada, Denmark, Italy and the United Kingdom. Some foreign governments have recognized the offence and have attempted to tackle the issue. In December 2021, the UK’s Home Office published statistics held on so-called ‘honour-based’ abuse offences in England and Wales for the period from 2020 to 2021. In the year ending March 2021, there were 2,725 honour-related offences, including threats to kill, recorded by the police in England and Wales. Canada also gave this matter attention with the Department of Justice considering the issue of honour killings in their ‘Preliminary Examination of so-called "Honour Killings" in Canada’ consultation.
In Pakistan there are some safeguards in place, firstly, Article 8 (1) of the Constitution which states, “Any law, or any custom or usage having the force of law, in so far as it is inconsistent with the rights conferred by this Chapter, shall, to the extent of such inconsistency, be void”. It addresses the situation where there might be a clash between law and customary practices, such as tribal or oppressive regional customs, and makes it clear that the law shall prevail.
Secondly, powerful legal judgments, such as the one from the Supreme Court in 2020, where the court found that there is ‘no honour in such killings’. The perpetrator’s representatives argued that the charge of murder should be reduced to a lesser crime on the basis of ‘grave and sudden provocation’, in other words, ‘he could not help himself’, and that the wife was a woman of ‘bad character’. This justification is encountered time and time again because on some level there is a belief that ‘bad character’, particularly pertaining to a woman, needs to be punished or it will tarnish the community at large.
And thirdly, the changes in the law: the first was through the 2004 Criminal Law Amendment. However, with the acquittal of the murderer of Qandeel Baloch, it is clear there were shortcomings. This law was further buttressed by the Criminal Law Amendment of 2016, which strengthened the earlier provision by adding the following key changes:
However, the legislation does leave things open to the court for interpretation as to whether a crime was honour-based or not, in the event that it is not could lead to a reduced sentence. Inevitably this leaves room for bias.
As reported in the Supreme Court judgment (2020), Pakistan has one of the highest per capita honour killings in the world. Those working within the justice sector, such as the police or judiciary, would benefit from ongoing training to ensure there is a greater and meaningful understanding of this complex issue. In order to prompt real change, the adoption of a cohesive approach from assigning a specialist police officer to oversee the process at stations to a clear and unapologetic message in legislation and judiciary needs to be implemented without delay. As a society, we must no longer tolerate notions of ‘grave and sudden provocation’ or the downgrading of such crimes.
The writer is a lawyer and an activist. She is a member of the Law Society of England and Wales.
Before we go on let us address the terminology -- when we use the phrase ‘honour killing’ we lend some validation to what is essentially a crime of murder. This needs to stop. A more accurate description would be ‘murder committed upon the pretext of honour by family’.
Using words like ‘honour’ in the context of murder doesn’t just severely downplay the atrocity of the crime but also, for some people, legitimises the actions of the murderer by satiating a sense of misplaced justice, the inference being that there is no smoke without fire.
Although there is limited police data available, there are no clear statistics regarding the specific number of honour killings committed annually in Pakistan. Family members have been known to mislead the authorities by describing such deaths as suicide or natural causes. What is clear is that in the majority of reported cases victims are women and perpetrators are men -- to be more specific, men of the family or men murdering at the behest of the family. These murders are not committed by random strangers nor violent opportunists. The perpetrators are fathers, brothers, husbands, men who have handed out Eid gifts, nurtured their children, watched them grow within the family, men who have a sense of who their victims are. However, often this crime also involves a degree of collusion and agreement from the wider family or even the community.
Some of the well-documented cases have seen the most innocuous of behaviours interpreted as ‘inappropriate’, ‘unacceptable’ or ‘dishonourable’, behaviours such as clapping at a family wedding. Other breaches include wanting to leave an abusive marriage, being the victim of sexual assault, and all too often stories of punishment and retribution for marrying someone of your own choosing. Mostly the murders are linked to the idea that a woman has transgressed perceived notions of morality and in some cases specifically sexual morality. It is always the perpetrator who determines when sensibilities have been overstepped and traditions breached, it is their perception of what is right and wrong which is the trigger.
Using words like ‘honour’ in the context of murder doesn’t just severely downplay the atrocity of the crime but also, for some people, legitimises the actions of the murderer by satiating a sense of misplaced justice, the inference being that there is no smoke without fire.
The issue has even extended beyond borders with cases being reported in diaspora communities, including America, Canada, Denmark, Italy and the United Kingdom. Some foreign governments have recognized the offence and have attempted to tackle the issue. In December 2021, the UK’s Home Office published statistics held on so-called ‘honour-based’ abuse offences in England and Wales for the period from 2020 to 2021. In the year ending March 2021, there were 2,725 honour-related offences, including threats to kill, recorded by the police in England and Wales. Canada also gave this matter attention with the Department of Justice considering the issue of honour killings in their ‘Preliminary Examination of so-called "Honour Killings" in Canada’ consultation.
In Pakistan there are some safeguards in place, firstly, Article 8 (1) of the Constitution which states, “Any law, or any custom or usage having the force of law, in so far as it is inconsistent with the rights conferred by this Chapter, shall, to the extent of such inconsistency, be void”. It addresses the situation where there might be a clash between law and customary practices, such as tribal or oppressive regional customs, and makes it clear that the law shall prevail.
Secondly, powerful legal judgments, such as the one from the Supreme Court in 2020, where the court found that there is ‘no honour in such killings’. The perpetrator’s representatives argued that the charge of murder should be reduced to a lesser crime on the basis of ‘grave and sudden provocation’, in other words, ‘he could not help himself’, and that the wife was a woman of ‘bad character’. This justification is encountered time and time again because on some level there is a belief that ‘bad character’, particularly pertaining to a woman, needs to be punished or it will tarnish the community at large.
In order to prompt real change, the adoption of a cohesive approach from assigning a specialist police officer to oversee the process at stations to a clear and unapologetic message in legislation and judiciary needs to be implemented without delay.
And thirdly, the changes in the law: the first was through the 2004 Criminal Law Amendment. However, with the acquittal of the murderer of Qandeel Baloch, it is clear there were shortcomings. This law was further buttressed by the Criminal Law Amendment of 2016, which strengthened the earlier provision by adding the following key changes:
- The Act prohibits victims’ families from pardoning perpetrators (except where death sentence is applicable) making honour killing a non-compoundable offence;
- A mandatory sentence of 25 years for the crime of honour killing.
However, the legislation does leave things open to the court for interpretation as to whether a crime was honour-based or not, in the event that it is not could lead to a reduced sentence. Inevitably this leaves room for bias.
As reported in the Supreme Court judgment (2020), Pakistan has one of the highest per capita honour killings in the world. Those working within the justice sector, such as the police or judiciary, would benefit from ongoing training to ensure there is a greater and meaningful understanding of this complex issue. In order to prompt real change, the adoption of a cohesive approach from assigning a specialist police officer to oversee the process at stations to a clear and unapologetic message in legislation and judiciary needs to be implemented without delay. As a society, we must no longer tolerate notions of ‘grave and sudden provocation’ or the downgrading of such crimes.
The writer is a lawyer and an activist. She is a member of the Law Society of England and Wales.