Step by step, India is moving towards a law against so-called honour killings. The first step was to begin the process of recording the number of these killings, something the Indian government finally did under pressure in 2014.
That showed that the total had ballooned from 28 in 2014 to 251 in 2015. The spike is unlikely to be because of a genuine increase in the number of such killings, but because more are being registered as honour killings, rather than suicide, which is often what these murders are called. The figures for 2016 could be even higher.
Armed with these numbers, activists are pushing for a law that would first name the practice as illegal – currently, though widespread in some rural parts of the country, it is not even recognised and many seek to pretend it does not exist – and then subject it to the same sanctions as murder.
A law matters. Honour killings are, of course, a societal problem, and they will not be solved simply by a change in the law. Critics have long noted that laws against corruption and rape already exist – yet both crimes are sadly widespread in India. While that is true, naming the practice and outlawing it are crucial first steps.
They also provide a certain measure of support to police, politicians and witnesses. In rural areas, honour killings continue because police are reluctant to investigate what are seen as family matters, witnesses are reluctant to come forward and politicians are reluctant to tackle it because many tacitly support the practice – or at least support the concept of honour in family affairs. Changing the law provides some backing for investigations and witnesses may feel more able to come forward with information.
Yet honour killings go beyond India. They exist in other parts of Asia and even in some pockets of the Arab world. Indeed, while in India they are often used to “avenge” breaches of honour to do with inter-caste marriage, in Pakistan they take on religious significance. But this shows how unrelated to religion they really are. Whether committed by Hindus, Muslims, Christians or Sikhs, the root cause is not faith but a view of women as “belonging” to the family or tribe, rather than valued in their own right. This is regressive.
A law will not solve honour killings overnight. But it will start by calling them by their proper name: murder.
