Domestic Violence or Cultural Tradition? Approaches to ‘Honour Killing’ as Species and Subspecies in English Legal Practice

Abstract

Is honour-related violence,¹ including so-called ‘honour killing’, a type — that is to say, a ‘subspecies’ of gender-based violence? Or is it a ‘species’ of its own; a ‘cultural tradition’, which is separate from gender-based violence, primarily by virtue of the presence of allegedly ‘cultural’ factors within such violence?² This chapter will discuss the relevance of this debate within the multicultural context of Britain, and specifically the English legal system. In recent decades there has been a greatly increased focus on honour-related violence within academic, policy and media circles in Britain. This increased attention to some extent initially arose due to high-profile cases and increased campaigning by a range of domestic and international activist organisations (Siddiqui, 2008). The concurrent establishment of governmental initiatives, such as the Forced Marriage Unit, and a range of consultations and reports on issues of honour-related violence, have also raised the profile of issues around ‘honour’ in the context of multicultural agendas.