Honor killings: What would it take to keep women safe in Pakistan? – By Hasan Ali (CS Monitor) / Dec 5, 2023
Police have arrested four men for the alleged killing of an 18-year-old girl in the north Pakistan district of Kohistan last week, including the victim’s father, in a case that has sparked outrage across the country and reignited a conversation about Pakistan’s failure to protect women.
Authorities say the teenager was shot by her family on the instructions of a village council, or jirga, as a way to restore her family’s honor. Her alleged infraction? Posing in a photo with a man.
Hundreds of Pakistani women are murdered every year in so-called honor killings – homicides committed because the women in question are judged to have transgressed social mores through indecent behavior, thus bringing shame on their families. In many instances, honor killings are triggered by rumor or doctored evidence, and few perpetrators are ever convicted.
The Kohistan incident has underscored all that is needed to curb honor killings, from patching legal loopholes to addressing deeply rooted cultures of misogyny to strengthening support systems for women. Advocates say cultural and legal efforts to protect women will require all hands on deck – and enthusiastic backing from the state.
