Honor killing may be defined as the killing of a family member who has brought dishonor to the prestige of the family. This practice is notorious in Asian countries and becoming common in western countries where the usual targets are girls and women. The main reasons for such killings are attributed to women who have dishonored their families by engaging in practices which are forbidden within patriarchal or orthodox societies .
At least 20,000 women die around the world due to these killings each year and this is becoming alarming as the usual targets are adolescent girls and women who above manifested the desires to emancipate. It is a notable fact to attribute this phenomenon to Asia because the cases reported are basically from its countries -particularly India.
In India, for instance ,the caste system being deeply routed within the hierarchy of the society ,even after the endeavors of Gandhi and his reforms to protect marginalized groups from discrimination , this practice has continued to strive far and wide :so to understand Honor Killings ,the concept of caste discrimination should be considered.
The simplest form of caste discrimination example is likely a boy from a lower caste engaging in a relationship with a higher caste girl ,the consequence is not only a refusal of such alliance ,but a repressive reaction incurred by the couple -case studies have literally unveiled the truth on matters of a girl who has eloped with a dalit boy being savagely burnt and killed .
Many African countries do follow the same trend. One notable incident was the disappearance of Kay ,the youngest wife of IdI Amin ,dicatator of Uganda known for his atrocities -though not confirmed ,it is believed that Kaye might have been literally executed for having an affair with Idi Amin's Doctor and health minister.
This practice is however not limited only to women and in within the Asian countries :the western countries have also cases of honor killings where the husband or boy of a family have been executed on mere engagement into extra conjugal liaisons or homosexuality -which is widely a disputed issue .
The Impact of homosexuality and infidelity is merely that,both are considered against the ethics of religion ,who above all encourages reproduction of the species in the ways prescribed in the holy texts. Biologically a man is compatible with a women and the result of all these is procreation as proved by science ,but if two human beings of the same sex couple together there is logically no reproduction .On the religious field this triggers the violation of morality and encourages repression -in the form of honor killings .
The issue of Honour killing is wide and complex .Though governments endeavor to bring laws to punish this crime , it continues to thrive throughout societies that seem to have conserved jealously this method not willing to change .Surprisingly this phenomenon seem to progress to the west despite educational reforms and women emancipation campaigns against it -the change of mentality proving to be a herculean task to tackle and the attitude to this problem a real puzzle.