Getting pregnant out of wedlock, being a rape victim, committing adultery, refusing an arranged marriage, dressing provocatively, having a boyfriend of a different religion, or simply being in love, are all considered irredeemable acts that deserve the death penalty in the mindset of the primitive male dominant societies. Sometimes suspicion or a false rumor could cost a girl her life. It is an utterly horrifying fact that crimes of honor are claiming the lives of 5,000 women every year. As explained by the author of Murder in the Name of Honor, Rana Husseini, "The so-called honor killing occurs when a family feels that their female relative has tarnished their reputation by what they loosely term 'immoral behavior.' These killings are usually carried out by a male relative as an act of purification to restore the family’s honor." However, these motives cannot be why crimes of honor are still an issue that haunts our ever-developing modern world in the 21st century. The concept ‘Honor killings’ is deeply embedded in our society because of three major reasons.
One of the most important reasons why these appalling crimes are still committed is how women are viewed in male dominant societies. The over-glorification of what it means to be a man while women are objectified and considered disposable is why Crimes of honor occur. Women are considered a vulnerable prey to the predatory sexual man, and they need to be protected. Male members of the family are brought up with a notion that they are the superior honorable protectors, while the females are the only ones capable of disgracing or bringing shame to the family. Men start developing their falsely given dominant role with the reinforcement of their traditional surroundings at ...
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...se tragic cases, is usually used as an absurd excuse for covering up a deeper issue. The dominance of honor and shame in our culture is what urges these men to defend the public image of their manliness at any cost.
In conclusion, Crimes of honor are shameful inhuman behavior that is caused by the dominance of backward mindsets and primitive traditions and upbringings, the lack of intimidating laws, and the misconception of the true meaning of honor. We all need to be actively involved in raising awareness among our communities about this grotesque issue in order to honor every woman that fell victim to crimes of that terrible manner. To honor every woman that knew the horror of facing the real monster hidden beneath a face she grew to love, but above all, in order to prevent any more bloodshed, to prevent the loss of more souls that society deemed irredeemable.
This essay will explore reasons why females such as Vanessa George turn to the crime of sex offending. Demonstrating my knowledge and understanding of classical criminological theory, exploring biological theories such as penis envy and more contemporary views such as liberation theory within feminism. The essay will then go on to look at the inequalities female sex offenders face within the criminal justice system in comparison with males, using chivalry theory and evil woman theory to explain this.
Men and women throughout history are remembered for their selflessness, compassion and dedication to their people; their honorable qualities are clear in the minds of many. The word “honor” brings to mind a numerous people: Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr. and Franklin Delano Roosevelt are a few of the thousands at hand. However, honor is a subjective term; occasionally deeds which are socially unacceptable are deemed to be admirable under the circumstances, such as Brutus’ murder of Julius Caesar. One woman in French history, Charlotte Corday, has a similar story. Although she is infamous for nothing but her murder of an French Revolutionary leader, she, like Brutus, was truly an honorable individual.
In today’s society, there is evidence that gender roles hold high standards in forming an identity, whether that gender is male or female. These standards put pressure on either gender to uphold them and commit to specific behaviors/actions that validate their very being. For men, this includes being considered masculine, or portraying the sense that they are authoritative over others, in which this includes displaying attitudes that contribute to female subordination. According to Pascoe (2016) in his article “Good Guys Don’t Rape” men are given the opportunity to challenge rape yet reinforce rape attitudes at the same time that are contained within rape culture and masculinity considered “norms.” Pascoe, illustrates that rape can be seen
In Chronicle of a Death Foretold, the protection of honor can alter how a person looks at the family. For example, Prudencia Cotes, Pablo Vicario’s fiancée, said “I never would have married him if he hadn’t done what a man should do” (Marquez, 62). This shows the value honor has towards people other than the Vicario family. The love that Prudencia had for Pablo would have gone away if he didn’t enact some sort of vengeance on Santiago Nasar. The value of honor is high for a lot of Latin-American families and when it is taken repercussions are
One of the most horrible things that has erupted from the subjugation of women is rape culture. Rape culture is the downplaying of the crime of rape to appease the violator, the accusation that the victim made a choice that led to their rape, or even jokes that suggest rape. According to Jessica Valenti’s, “In Rape Tragedies, the Shame Is Ours,” in today's world many people give in to rape culture by participating in these acts that somehow change our mindsets into believing that, “it is more shameful to be raped than to be a rapist”. Once ...
The TV show, Law and Order: Special Victims Unit, often addresses criminal deviance such as rape and murder. In the episode, “Scorched Earth,” an African immigrant maid becomes a rape victim of a rich, Italian prime minister named Distascio (Wolf). This episode highlights how status can affect perception of certain deviant behaviors. Additionally, it addresses contemporary America’s values toward types of deviant acts, and sanctions that go along with them.
“The United Nations estimates that as many as 5,000 women and girls worldwide were killed last year by family members” (Autumn, 2001). Crimes of ‘honor’ are acts of violence perpetuated typically against women who violate broader cultural standards against sexuality and marriage. When a woman violates the sexual or marital standards within a culture, her actions bring shame and dishonor and in order to eliminate the dishonor within the family, killing is the only way. “Honor killings focus on maintaining the sexual exclusiveness of women” (Barker et al, 1999). In most of the cases, honor killings are mostly present in cultures of the South Asian and Middle Eastern Islamic areas. Sadly, this culture is prevalent in some parts of the Indian society as well. “Offenses leading to ‘honor’ killings include leaving home without permission, rumors about premarital loss of virginity, accusations of flirting, and illegitimate sexual contact. These accusations also do not require the consent of the female in the act. Rape victims, for instance,...
Ricard, Suzanne, Thompson, Jennie. “Women’s Role in Serial Killing Teams: Reconstructing a Radical Feminist Perspective.” Critical Criminology 17(4): 261-275
Men would strut their honour by doing dangerous and possible life threatening activities. This goes all the way back to Ancient Rome times when there was gladiators. Gladiators were armed combatant men who entertained the Roman audiences in violent confrontations with other gladiators, wild animals, and condemned criminals. This was a cruel victory, but they were treated like heroes and considered honourable for their bravery. The women weren’t allowed to be part of those events, but honour still pops up throughout ancient times and literature like “the epic poems of Homer are primarily about honor and man’s quest to achieve and maintain it” (The Art of Manliness). Old stories would describe men being honourable, never hear anything about a woman.
Women have fought for equality with men in the United States since the mid 1800s with the initiation of the woman’s rights movement. Not for special treatment, not for better opportunities, or even affirmative action, just equality. When it comes to killing, they are simply not viewed as aggressive creatures by the public. They were forced to do it, they are the victims, they must have been mentally or physically abused (Gurian 2011). There is very limited research on female serial killers, and even less so for women in partnerships with men, since they are rare cases. However, according to a study produced by Hickey (2006), 31% of the 64 female serial killers between 1826 and 2004 were in a partnership. Women who enter these partnerships with men either want to be taken seriously as an offender (Thompson 2009), or want to “please their murdering mates” (Fox and Levin 2012). De Beauvoir (1970) claims that a woman in love ‘‘tries to model herself on her lover’s desire… giving herself blindly’.’ Women will try to preserve a relationship by carrying out whatever action they can to satisfy their partner, which means that, in some extreme cases, women will go as far as killing along with them. Couples who kill together generally have a distinct set of techniques for target selection, way of killing, and means of disposing the body when compared to lone serial killers.
The Feminist theory is based around gender inequalities and the concept of an imbalance of power between men and women and within men themselves. This theory argues that male sexual offenders are like normal men, however they have been conditioned within society and culture that when their masculinity is questioned, this creates a reaction where males sexually assault females to boost their male status within society. The feminist theory highlights how women’s experiences are often based around the struggle of male domination or patriarchy (Moore, 2008, p. 5) in relation to sexual offences. This article links closely with the Feminist Theory as
Last week the White House released a short, celebrity packed, 60-second public service announcement (PSA) on the topic of sexual assault. 1 is 2 Many addressed those who are in control of preventing sexual assault as its intended audience was those who can put a stop to sexual violence: the perpetrators or would-be offenders. Although this one minute announcement completes the task of bringing sexual assault to the forefront of discussion, it fails to encompass central issues of rape culture: societal perceptions, the victim, and the justice system. Sexual assault is a phenomenon that has been around for centuries. The culture of sexual assault is rooted in both legal practices and societal perceptions; in order for its reforms to be effective, they need to target both aspects of rape culture, as one factor by itself is not enough to maintain reforms and foster needed change. The culture of rape—how it is defined, its victims and its offenders (and how they are perceived by society), myths, and its laws—has changed throughout the years, and in particular during the first wave of legal reforms in the 1970’s. Although these legal and social changes are improvements from past conditions, they can be further developed and expanded.
Rape is a virus that infects every nation, culture and society. It is constantly referred to as “the unfinished murder”, because of the deep state of despair the rapist leaves the victim in. There is no common identifiable trend that determines who will be a rape victim. Women are not assaulted because of their attitudes or actions, they are attacked simply because they are present. With rapists, just as with their victims, there is no identifiable trend. The old myth that only “sick, dirty, old, perverted men” commit rapes is a lie that society tells itself in order to sleep better at night. The startling truth is that most rapists work under a veil of normalcy. In order for the percentage of rapes to decrease, we have to change our ideas about rape and let go of the old myths of the past. And until this happens, rape will continue to plague our world at large.
As a social construction, rape is created in the context of eroticization male dominance and female subordination. It also bases itself on the assumption that gender is a predetermined that distinguishes people into two distinct categories. Although rape is real, it is rather enabled by misconceptions. In order to envision a society without rape or less rape, it is radical for people to recognize that social construction has had enormous impact on how it is practiced and perceived.
Honor killings have become very common in Pakistan especially in Sindh and in tribal areas of Pakistan. In Pakistan hundreds of women are killed every year in the name of honor. Such a cruel custom has existed in our country from so many years. Honor killings are common in all over the country, though in some areas the incidents of honor killings have taken a shockingly high amount of incidents in recent years. In Azad Kashmir a mother helped her husband in killing their 15 year old daughter because they saw her talking to a young man. They killed her by dousing her acid. Her elder sister was not in favor of this custom and she was very anxious about that crime which her parents had committed. She demanded justice and police investigation for her sister but all went in vain because it was done in the name of so called ‘honour’. Our state also goes after the satisfaction of honor in foreign policy. Our society has become so cruel under the involuntarily accepted conduct guideline of the Taliban. The people who are killed in the name of honor are mostly women.