“Honor”‐Based Violence

Abstract

In recent years, violence against women and girls committed in the name of “honor” has attracted increasing attention across the globe. Unfortunately, media accounts and policy discourses concerning “honor”‐based violence (HBV) and “honor” killings have principally viewed the problem through the lens of cultural essentialism: In other words, explanations have focused on the cultural (including religious) factors underlying HBV rather than examining HBV in the broader context of violence against women and girls (VAWG). VAWG is endemic across the whole of UK society, though different sociocultural and ethnic groups experience heightened rates of certain forms, like HBV. This entry identifies the norms, traditions, and values that underpin HBV as a specific form of VAWG. Culture, ethnicity, religion, and nationality contribute to the forms of VAWG that an individual may experience, but none of these factors is the sole or even main cause of this complex phenomenon.

‘They Wouldn’t Believe Me’: Giving a Voice to British South Asian Male Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse

“…Gurdeep was quick to point out that honour had not been the sole reason for his decision not to disclose to his family. His position on honour was part of a pattern we also found among some of the other survivors, who recognised its existence while at the same time claiming that older generations gave it too much importance (Gill 2021;Pabla 2020). Both Aman and Gurdeep knew how significant honour was for their parents' generation and the integral part it played in their lives.…”