The epidemiological patterns of honour killing of women in Pakistan

Background: Honour killing (HK) is a problem of public health concern but published data on the phenomenon are limited and many cases likely go unrecognized. Our study focuses on the epidemiological patterns of HK of women in Pakistan, where domestic violence is common and HK occurs but is poorly de...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:European journal of public health 2009-04, Vol.19 (2), p.193-197
Main Authors: Nasrullah, Muazzam, Haqqi, Sobia, Cummings, Kristin J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Age groups
cultural practices
Culture
Domestic violence
Emergency medical care
Family Relations
Female
Females
Gender
Health surveillance
Homicide - trends
Honor killings
honour killing
Human rights
Humans
Islam
Karo Kari
Mental depression
Middle Aged
Murders & murder attempts
Pakistan
Pakistan - epidemiology
Population
Public health
Social Values - ethnology
Stabbings
Statistics
Surveillance
violence
Women
Young Adult
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Summary:Background: Honour killing (HK) is a problem of public health concern but published data on the phenomenon are limited and many cases likely go unrecognized. Our study focuses on the epidemiological patterns of HK of women in Pakistan, where domestic violence is common and HK occurs but is poorly described. Methods: Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) systematically collected data on HK of women using newspaper reports from January 2004 till December 2007. We analysed the aggregated data on HK through December 2007 and estimated the rates of HK. Results: A total of 1957 HK events occurred from 2004 to 2007; complete data was not available for all variables. Adults (≥18 years) constituted 82% (803/978) of death toll with 88% (1257/1435) being married. Alleged extramarital relation was the major reason for the killing (92%; 1759/1902). Husbands (43%; 749/1739), brothers (24%; 421/1739) and ‘other’ close relatives (12%; 200/1739) were the perpetrators in known HK events. Among the weapons/methods used for killing, firearms (61%; 1071/1768), stabbing (4%; 65/1768), use of axe (12%; 220/1768), edged tool (8%;136/1768) and strangulation (9%; 167/1768) were the main means of execution. The mean annual rate of HK in females (age 15–64 years) was found to be 15.0 per million. Conclusions: Newspaper reports are good source of surveillance when information is limited. We found that adult married women constituted the majority of victims of HK. Ongoing surveillance would serve to better characterize HK in Pakistan and assess the effectiveness of preventive strategies.
ISSN:1101-1262
1464-360X
DOI:10.1093/eurpub/ckp021