Violence against Women in Pakistan: A Study of Religious, Socio-Cultural and Legal Perspectives of Honour Killing

Abstract

Violence against women is not confined to any particular society.  Honour killing is also a global issue; however, the number of violence types is rampant in Pakistan. Certain inhuman and violent customary practices in many parts of Pakistan are the pretext for killing thousands of women. There are several wrong explanations of Quranic verses to justify this type of violence, but it is appropriate to understand this complex issue of honour and its rationale.  The paper will also examine the socio-cultural and legal perspectives of honour killings in Pakistan. Several laws in Pakistan exclusively deal with these issues and especially, the new honour killing law promulgated in 2004 needs critical scrutiny to study the effects of this law. Finally, the paper will summarise its findings and give a few solid recommendations as to how to make the laws more effective.