Causes Of Honor Killings In Pakistan

Just a few months ago, I heard about a brutal death of a former celebrity known by her stage name, Qandeel Baloch. She was a Pakistani actress and singer who was a bit above the norm and was considered a vulgar woman in her country. She did not dress the way her society liked, she made dance and music videos, and was very outspoken. Because of this, many believed she was “dishonoring” her family. She was not allowed to live and so her own brother murdered her through asphyxiation. Unfortunately, this type of crime is not common in just Pakistan. Thousands of honor killings occur every year, all over the world, and sometimes there’s little to no media coverage. They’re on the rise, with estimates of up to a 1,400 percent increase in some countries (Kiener 3). What is even more surprising is that people consider these killings …show more content…
Karo means “bad man” and kari means “bad girl”. The primary cause of deaths is due to women having illicit relationships with men. These relationships can be sexual or non-sexual. Whatever the type, women still pay a price for these “crimes”. Any type of relationship with a man that is not a woman’s husband is not moral (Patel and Gadit 685). What constitutes dishonor to families can be: “pregnancy out of wedlock, sexual misconduct, and marriage outside family approval” (Patel and Gadit 686). People commit honor killings because of other broader reasons. For example, women who demand divorces from their husbands, but cannot do so “elicit a karo-kari attack under a false pretext” (686). In poorer areas, when women become financial burdens, families use karo-kari as a way to gain wealth or inheritance from the victim. In this type of society, women are thought of as the property of their male relatives. Men have control over women and make sure that women are faithful virgins (689). If a woman violates or objects to these traditional values, she has dishonored the family and must be