Patriarchal Violence in the Name of 'Honour'

This article explains how notions or honour can act as catalysts for so-called honour-based violence when ideas of family and community are challenged by women, and highlights a number of recent and high-profile examples of honour crimes in the UK. A key question is how these crimes should be regarded in the context of our increasingly multi-cultural society. The article examines the way in which the British media have reported these crimes has misrepresented ethnic minorities and engendered a sense of mainstream moral superiority. Furthermore, it argues that a better understanding of the relationship between culture and morality could lead to a more nuanced approach to the construction of a human rights framework. But we must guard against two dangers: on the one hand the danger of universalising what are merely western feminist ideas of morality, and on the other of tolerating human rights violations for the sake of multi-cultural accommodation.