6 Honor Killings in Pakistan
Introduction:
I was exposed to the concept of honor killings in high school. From the initial introduction, I was horrified by the concept. Honor killings is the act of killing, primarily, killing women in villages in rural parts of South Asia (Pakistan, India, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh), for ‘dishonoring’ a family or a patriarch in a family. Victims of honor killings can be targeted for many different actions. Often, they are associated with breaking specific Islamic rules. For example, girls can be targets for honor killings for things like premarital sex or in extreme cases, even talking to boys outside of their family after puberty. In the past five to ten years, with the rise of social media, there have been victims of honor killings because of social media presence. The idea that young women and, in some cases, men were being killed by their own family members was so foreign to me, yet when I read case studies, there were so many examples taking place in Pakistan. I became interested in researching honor killings shortly after I was introduced to them because this felt deeply personal because of how often research mentioned Pakistan. I felt as if every victim of an honor killing was someone I knew and cared for deeply. Additionally, it felt as if every time Pakistan was mentioned in an article or research paper, it was another reason for people in the West to deem Pakistan “less modern” or “not developed” and “behind,” which did not seem fair or accurate to me. I think a lack of research around honor killings and other forms of femicide and gendered violence leads to a harmful orientalist view which I have firsthand seen people in the West take. To understand the depth of honor killings, it is important to understand the layers of culture and religion and how the two have been interpreted differently.
In this essay, I discuss honor killings in Pakistan in great depth, even using a case study from 2016 to illustrate how certain factors changed what honor killings look like in the 21st century. I investigate how honor killings are used by the West as a tool of racialization deeming groups savage, underdeveloped, and non deserving of modernity. This is broken down by looking at stereotypes; enforced by colonization, modernity and how that is measured around the world, and what honor killings look like in different cultures and what the reasoning behind them looks like in different regions. The overall theme of this essay is colonization and the effects of it in “underdeveloped” regions, like Pakistan.
Theory:
The “Aspects of the Coloniality of Knowledge” reading by Sarah Lucia Hoagland discusses the coloniality of knowledge and how the colonial structure is enforced, perpetuating a system where white feminists believe the only way to support other women is to “free them” from their own cultures and the men in their cultures (brown and black men). This is represented in her quote “Many Western feminist researchers are reading their subjects through cultural productions that can only see the subjects as inferior to Western standards of ‘woman’ and hence in need of enlightened rescue” (Hoagland, 50). Hoagland references “cultural productions” which in my interpretation is similar to a bias that many white feminists begin research with. One example of this bias is the idea that brown and black men are inherently deviant, dangerous, and pose a threat to all women. These stereotypes are extremely harmful because these ideas originate from harmful tropes pushed by colonizers and white men. The concept of having to save women of color from men of color only pushes the idea that the only way to liberate women of color is to take them out of their culture and their situation and integrate them into Western society. This pushes the idea that the only way in which women will be free is if they are under the protection of white men and women. Additionally, this way of thinking leads to a vilification of men of color which is harmful for the structure of cultures in other parts of the world.
Hoagland’s statements relate to honor killings because victims of honor killings are often killed by the men in their family, such as their father, brothers, cousins, or uncles. This leads to men in Pakistani culture being vilified and seen as evil and inherently bad. This is a case of intersectionality as well because they are brown men and this impacts how their actions are viewed. General sentiment about honor killings coming from the West is that the men in these societies are the main perpetrators and are the sole reason behind honor killings. This is a harmful stereotype that leads to the idea that all brown and black men, in these cases, are inherently bad and want to kill their daughters and nieces. This is incorrect, and I think it is important to preface the fact that honor killings are a very general term. I would recommend referencing the rough definition I provided above to contextualize the concept. However, honor killings are extremely complex and because of this, they look different in different regions. To make these concepts digestible, I am using specific cases from Pakistan to not overcomplicate an already complex concept.
Similarly to Hoagland’s argument, I found Arturo Escobar’s reflection in “The Invention of Development” to be relevant to the discussion regarding honor killings. Escobar discusses the concept of development and how it was invented and later implemented. His argument is very relevant and useful to discuss honor killings because it relates to how in most reporting done regarding honor killings, it references the issue as something exclusively plaguing under-developed countries, such as Pakistan. This is notable because the idea that a country is “under-developed” is something that is used by the West to have control over how other countries are looked at on the global stage. By deeming certain states “under-developed” it leads the public to believe that this nation for whatever reason is missing something, and is behind. Escobar discusses how the theory of development was created to define nations that had high levels of poverty. “Thus poverty became an organizing concept and the object of a new problematization. That the essential trait of the third world was its poverty and that the solution was economic growth and development became self-evident, necessary, and universal truths” (Escobar). Escobar’s argument supports the concept that development only came to fruition in order to create a system in which countries such as Pakistan have to be dependent on the West forever, because, without the West’s support, they will never be able to be developed or advanced.
I believe this connects to honor killings because it shows how this is inherently a harmful concept because it overlooks the root of honor killings and writes them off to be something that only happens because of a lack of development. Additionally, this connects to Hoadland’s argument discussing how harmful the idea that men of color are inherently bad and are a danger to all women is. Development in this context is unique because it showcases how development as a metric for measurement was created by colonizers who wanted to control colonized communities even after liberation. A state being deemed developed or not is not the sole driving force behind honor killings. Escobar discusses the power dynamic between the West and the rest of the World. This power dynamic allows for the West to determine what is and is not developed and this system leaves out the rest of the World from discussions. This eventually leads to the rest of the World playing catch-up to what the West determines good and bad (The invention). This is harmful for many reasons, but it creates a system in which those in these “under-develped” nations feel as if the only road to success is through Western states, or in ways the West deems right. This leads to Western states having power and dominance forever.
Escobar’s argument about development and modernity relates to Lara Deeb’s argument in “Piety Politics and Transnational Feminist Analysis.” She discusses case studies from Lebanon and different sects of Islam and how that relates back to feminism in the West and in Lebanon. I found her discussion regarding how feminist theory was introduced in certain universities within Lebanon and how this introduction reflected how certain stereotypes in Lebanon are perpetuated. “Yet not only does it reflect stereotypes held by Lebanese about ‘other’ Lebanese, but it also points to assumptions, held by some in Lebanon as well as elsewhere, about the incompatibility of religiosity with modernity” (Deeb). Escobar’s argument discussing the origins of development and modernity sets up Deeb’s real and tangible data dealing with the effects of what Escobar argues. Deeb’s argument relates to honor killings because it is just another example of how Western intervention, specifically the concept of modernity becomes dangerous in communities that absorb it and how it becomes a key part of their society.
Case Study:
The story of Fauzia Azeem, also known by her stage name “Qandeel Baloch” is heartbreaking, and one that I found to be illustrative of the larger issue in Pakistan. Fauzia was born on March 1st, 1990, and soon after she was introduced to social media, she began posting videos. Her first introduction to mainstream media was on a show called “Pakistan Idol.” After her appearance on the show, she began posting videos on Instagram and Twitter. Many in Pakistan called her the “Kim Kardashian” of Pakistan, because of how viral she became on Twitter and Instagram and how encapsulated her fans were with her, comparing her fan base to those of the Kardashians in America. While many made this comparison, Fauzia’s story could not be more different than Kim Kardashian’s.
Fauzia was unfortunately murdered by her brother in July of 2016, after her brother decided that she had humiliated their family because of her social media presence. (Khan, Saira).
Fauzia’s story depicts how tools from the West such as social media and the internet became a source of harm in places where it was introduced. I think it is important to preface by saying that the root issue in this case is not social media, or how it was used. While this is true, it is important to acknowledge how things in Pakistan shifted with the introduction of social media. This can be seen through Fauzia’s case in which her brother used social media to track and monitor Fauzia and determine how honorable she was acting. The introduction of social media in Pakistan was disruptive of the social norms and cultural practices in place. It was not seamless, but actually abrupt. There was an assumption that with social media, the Western culture in which social media flourished, would also be transferred, but this was not the case. Pakistan, the first nation to be created in the name of Islam, has become a country heavily influenced by Islam and its teachings. This has led to a very pious Sunni-majority society, in which Islam rules over all. Official judicial law is influenced by interpretations of Islam which rules everyday culture. In Pakistan, some argued that with the introduction of social media, there was an introduction of Western culture and thought (Khan). Conservatives in Pakistan were against the introduction of social media and believed that it was promoting un-Islamic ideas which were harmful for the youth. This is very interesting, because within Pakistan there is a fine line between social media being a tool for liberation and also being a tool for increased surveillance.
Social media has become a way for families to police their daughters and children, while simultaneously becoming a way for girls to gain freedom and independence. The introduction of the internet is not only the introduction of social media, but it introduces diversity in thought among many other things. Social media is very powerful and impactful, and it plays many different roles in Fauzia’s story. There is a connection between social media being used for liberation and also being used for control, and I think that this has to do with the fact that when the West introduces certain things that they deem “modern,” they introduce it without taking time to look at what the implications will be in the already standing culture. Social media in Pakistan is an example of this. It is impossible to pick something up from one culture and take it to another without there being disruptions. Fauzia’s death is obviously more than a disruption, but there are countless other examples of social media being disruptive in Pakistani culture.
Social media is how Fauzia gained popularity and therefore was able to gain some freedom and independence from her family. She was able to support herself, even if it was in minimal ways. “It was my wish since I was a child to become something, to be able to stand on my own two feet, to do something for myself,” she says in her final interview with a Karachi-based news organization (Khan). This illustrates her own personal desire to stand alone and be independent, and social media was a tool for this. Even in the US, we see the effect of social media and how it has freed women from varying backgrounds to be financially independent, and we see this translate in Pakistani culture too. Fauzia used social media to challenge certain societal norms and rules in Pakistan, and for a while was successful. Another reason I chose Fauzia’s story to discuss is because of how unique it is, not only in the role that social media plays. In most honor killing cases, getting justice is very difficult because, as mentioned in an article published by the Diplomat, “Honor killings are often considered private family matters and are therefore rarely reported” (Anees). However, in Fauzia’s case, her father actually reported her death to the police against his son. This complicates Fauzia’s case because, since 1990, there has been a law in Pakistan’s legal books allowing honor killings to be resolved within families (Khan). Since Fauzia’s father reported the killing to the police, it involved the state. The state’s involvement in the case led to her brother being imprisoned for her death in 2016, but unfortunately, he was acquitted in 2022 leading to many around the world, including Amnesty International, being skeptical of the Pakistani justice system (Amnesty International USA). I do believe that the Pakistani justice failed Fauzia, and should therefore be critiqued. However, I think that it is unjust to compare the Pakistani justice system to those of the West and with a simple and surface-level comparison consider Pakistan to be “less than” and “underdeveloped.” Comparing newly liberated states with states that have been free from colonization for hundreds of years, or states that actively colonized is not comparable because there have been different amounts of resources that have been available for each place. Additionally, every year there are many cases of honor killings in the US, but the media silences groups around the country which leads to there being no reporting on honor killings around the country (Amnesty International USA). The US justice system has failed many women, and there is a major issue with indigenous women being kidnapped and murdered. Unfortunately, the justice and state systems in place are failing these women and many of them go missing for years without any investigations in place. This is relevant to how honor killings are reported on in the US because it shows that although both are forms of gender-based violence, the West picks and chooses when to report on cases based on what is convenient for their agenda. Vilifying Pakistan and other countries in the global South is politically convenient for the United States, along with the West. This connects back to how the creation of the development scale and using modernity as a metric comes from the desire of the West to continue to control independent states after colonization. There is a desire from the West to keep certain countries forever reliant, and, as stated in Escobar’s argument as well as Hoagland’s argument, this is strategic in order for the West to stay in power and have hegemonic control. And although there are clearly issues with the Pakistani justice system, it is often villainized and critiqued to a more extreme level compared to other (Western) states and this leads to many people, even those who think that are open-minded, having implicit biases when discussing countries in the East like Pakistan.
Sources:
Anees, Mariyam Suleman. “‘honor Killings’ Continue Unabated in Pakistan.” – The Diplomat, The Diplomat, 28 July 2022, thediplomat.com/2022/07/honor-killings-continue-unabated-in-pakistan/.
Deeb, Lara. “Piety Politics and Transnational Feminist Analysis.” Feminist Studies 35, no. 3 (2009): 591-610.
Hoagland, Sarah Lucia (2020). Aspects of the Coloniality of Knowledge. Critical Philosophy of Race 8 (1-2):48-60.
Khan, Saira. “The Outrageous ‘Honor Killing’ of a Pakistani Social-Media Star.” The New Yorker, The New Yorker, 19 July 2016, www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/the-outrageous-honor-killing-of-a-pakistani-social-media-star.
Lugones, M. (2016). The Coloniality of Gender. In: Harcourt, W. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Gender and Development. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-137-38273-3_2
The invention of development Arturo Escobar Current History; Nov 1999; 98, 631; Academic Research Library pg. 382
Webteam, Web. “The Horror of ‘Honor Killings’, Even in Us.” Amnesty International USA, 10 Apr. 2012, www.amnestyusa.org/updates/the-horror-of-honor-killings-even-in-us/.
ZAKARIA, RAFIA. “Honor Killings: Telling Their Stories Won’t End the Crimes.” World Policy Journal, vol. 33, no. 2, 2016, pp. 70–76.
