Violence in the Name of Honour Theoretical and Political Challenges

Honour violence is a phenomenon that occurs world-wide. In these violent acts, women are punished for alleged violations of family ‘honour’, such punishment in its most extreme variety taking the form of murder.This book is the outcome of the International Seminar on Violence in the Name of Honour, a gathering of activists, policy makers, and academics in Istanbul in 2003. The goal of the Seminar was to engage in a re-thinking of honour killing and to strategize towards global action in combating violence against women. Readers will see the contributions of this diverse group to a deeper understanding of violence and ways to challenge it.The book is organized into four sections: ‘Theoretical Explorations of Honour Killing’ provides methodological and theoretical attention to the issue of honour violence; the second section focuses on the theme of ‘Community Struggle Against Honour Killing’; the third section looks at ‘State Responses to Honour Killing’; and the fourth section contains a list of recommended resources for the study of honour violence. It will be of interest to policy makers, activists, researchers, feminists, and anyone else interested in the issue of human rights and social justice.