This news story has been bothering me all day.
On July 16, Pakistani social media personality Qandeel Baloch was strangled to death by her brother in what is known as an Honor Killing. She died because she posted sexy selfies on instagram in what family thought was dishonorable behavior. Honor killings are so common there’s a law in Pakistan that says the murderer can be acquitted of all fault if family members forgive them.
While no one has tried to kill me yet I am too familiar with the mentality - and the threats. An article in the Atlantic put it well:
“Honor violence is rooted in the perception that the behavior of a woman or girl, betraying her chastity, is an affront to the honor of her family and community. Examples of such dishonorable behavior include premarital relationships, dating someone not accepted by the family, or simply wearing clothing considered to be immodest or ‘too American.’
At first, relatives attempting to control a girl’s sexuality may simply impose non-violent restrictions on her social life, access to education, health care, employment opportunities, and civic participation. But if such forms of pressure do not suffice, a girl may be subjected to threats, harassment, assault, rape, kidnapping, torture, and even murder.”
There are girls who are murdered for talking to boys their age. There are girls who are murdered for wearing tank tops. There are girls who are murdered for not wanting to marry. It happens in the western world too, except thankfully there’s no forgiveness law here.
I’ve known too many girls who have had to live double lives for fear of being disowned - or *worse* - for nothing more than living on their own terms. I know this kind of thing can be difficult to grasp for someone on the outside but I want to be clear when I say it’s not the fault of specific religions or cultures - it’s more of another violent expression of patriarchal ideals.
Many years ago I did a lot of research into the prevalence of honor killings around the world, but had to stop when I couldn’t stop crying at the long lists of girls who died at the hands of their own family. This story brought all that back. I had to draw something, only appropriate since I had to fight many threats and restrictions just to go to art school.
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