Crimes of 'Honour' against Women: Experiences and Counter Strategies in Iraqi Kurdistan and the UK Kurdish Diaspora

Abstract

‘Honour’-based violence is a form of intimate violence usually committed against women by husbands, fathers, brothers and male relatives. A very common social phenomenon, it has existed throughout history and in a wide variety of societies across the world, from white European to African cultures, from South and East Asia to Latin America (Abu Odeh, 1996). The most extreme form of HBV – ‘honour’ killing – tragically remains widespread. Reports submitted to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights (2002) document the continuing occurrence of the practice in Bangladesh, Brazil, Britain, Ecuador, Egypt, India, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Pakistan, Morocco, Sweden, Turkey and Uganda.

However, over the last decade or so, national and international efforts, including new policy development and activist campaigns, have begun to challenge the practice. The book proposed here would be at the forefront of this new and challenging policy direction.

The book emerges from our new research study on HBV, and will be of academic interest and contribute to intellectual debate. However, it is written in a way that has particular relevance to policy makers, international human rights organizations, national and international women’s rights groups, practitioners, service users and survivors of violence, both in the UK and Iraqi Kurdistan in particular, as well as the rest of Europe where this form of crime has occurred. The book will also be of particular relevance to researchers.