'Honour Killings' in Pakistan and Compliance of ... - Aurat Foundation

woman loses her inherent value as an object worthy of possession and
therefore her right to life 20 .
Khan discusses this in terms of a collective patriarchal male
understanding. A man will be considered ‘respectable’ if he is able to
control the sexual behaviour of his wife, daughters and sisters. This is
only possible if he is able to control their movements, limit their mobility
and thereby reduce their interaction with strange men with whom they
threaten to ‘sully’ the family’s ‘honour’ 21 . The notions of ‘purdah’ and
the ‘na-mehram’ play an essential role in this control. He does this task
on the assumption that if they do not protect their women, they cannot be
assured to get ‘clean’ ‘pure’ women for themselves. This practice is not a
cultural or traditional phenomenon, it very much has an economic basis
and material motives 22 .
By entering into an adulterous relationship a woman subverts the order of
things, undermines the ownership rights of others to her body and
indirectly challenges the social order as a whole. She becomes black,
kari (Sindhi) or siyah, hence siyah kari in Balochi. Women’s' bodies must
not be given or taken except in a regulated exchange effected by men.
Amnesty International 23 , also recognises the economic factors and
advantages for men, relating to this “commodification” of women. Some
of the examples of this ‘economically viable’ situation includes marriage
of girls within the family to ensure property remains within the family;
marriage of women to the Quran; payment of ‘bride price’ at the time of
marriage, especially in tribal areas of NWFP, Sindh and Balochistan –
including in the form of another woman; and blood money i.e. the
20 ibid
21 Pg 45 ‘Beyond Honour’, Tahira S. Khan, Oxford University Press
22 ‘Beyond Honour’, Tahira S. Khan, Oxford University Press
23 Amnesty International Report: Pakistan: Violence Against Women in the Name of
Honour, 1999
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