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

hold through these illegal forms of justice. The judgments
declared by these men (they are always men) are often arbitrary,
patriarchal and very anti-women, such as giving women in
exchange, women in revenge, and treating women as bargaining
chips and property.
18. There is little awareness of the 2004 law on honour killings. The
community at large either does not know of it, or does not know
the specifics of the law. But what is far worse is that this
ignorance also exists within the fundamental players of the justice
sector, including the police, lawyers and even judges. The duty of
all of these players is to remain updated on the law, but as
interviews reveal, most are unaware of even the existence of the
2004 laws. This is worrying, as without the awareness of the law
within the community, it will have no deterring effect. Further, if
the justice sector, specifically the police is unaware of the law,
they will never correctly charge the perpetrators nor implement
any safeguards of the 2004 law, allowing women to be as
vulnerable as they were before.
19. The police is often unwilling to implement the law due to the
overwhelming social acceptance of the act and the influence of
power holders. Often they are reluctant to take the case forward,
as mostly the cases are compromised out of court. The police
often try to bring about this negotiation themselves, as they feel
that it is for the benefit of both parties to avoid the hassle of a
court case and settle the matter before taking it to court.
20. Some positive aspects of the promulgation of the law include that
it opened barriers to openly discuss the issue of human rights. It
has brought the issue into the mainstream and has increased the
national and international coverage of the issue. The fact that the
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