Crimes related to the offender's cultural background are exceptional, and require special attention in many ways. Firstly, they come as far more shocking than the “typical” offences in a given society, due to their peculiar and infrequent nature. Secondly, as they are so much specific, they pose a serious challenge for law enforcement bodies, and it may seem that they are a significant problem for courts, who must face foreign and often culturally obscure situations and behaviour. This is also an important challenge for researchers, who try their best to define and, most of all, understand the mechanisms leading to such type of crime. The article discusses the specificity of honour killing, characterises the perpetrators and victims, and clarifies the motivational process of perpetrators, who often find themselves entangled in obligations enforced by cultural norms in a degree comparable to what their victims experience. The paper is also an attempt at analysis of the thesis widely found in the literature claiming that abuse towards women (irrespective of their cultural background and creed) stems from the patriarchal social structure, and should not be associated with any particular cultural system . The article claims that in order to properly analyse honour killing cases and create a possibly most effective system of preventing and countering the phenomenon, the expressions and sources of violence against women in different cultures must be precisely and unequivocally defined, and so must be the perpetrators' motivation. This clear division is necessary at the terminological level, to start with. This is why the article introduces the notion of “culture specific gender based violence”. Gender based violence itself is too broad a term to define such polarised cases as economic abuse of a wife by a husband, battering, or even marital rape and honour killing. Classifying honour killings as gender-based violence only, without precise identification of the sources behind such violence, is a dangerous practice, as - in consequence - opinions emerge equalising infringement of women's rights in the western world with those experienced in honour-based cultures or Muslim societies . The claim that women suffer the same violence regardless of culture or creed is not true. There is a dramatic difference between Christian background cultures, which nurture basic human rights, and honour cultures or Muslim communities, in the manner they treat women, and in the extent of socially accepted repression if they infringe the norms. What is even more, without changing the cultural rules or interpretation of religious rules, the position of women who are facing honour killings cannot improve. This is due to the fact that it is the culture and religion, or to be more precise, some elements of those, or instrumental use of those, that are at the source of this type of violence.
The problem of “honour”-related (or “honour”-based) violence is a phenomenon that crosses the boundaries of countries, cultures, and religions. This kind of violence usually tends to be associated with various countries and regions of the Middle East – Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Iraqi Kurdistan. In Europe, this issue appeared in public debates only at the beginning of the 21st century, limited to the context of migration. Such categorisation has resulted in the politicisation of “honour”-related violence, manifested in the strong dependence of actions taken by the state on such factors as the political line of the ruling party or public feeling. The aim of this article is to answer the question about the legal regulation of “honour”-related violence in selected countries of the Middle East and Europe: Lebanon, Jordan, Iraqi Kurdistan, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Germany. This will make it possible to identify the means and methods of combating this problem and indicate whether the context of migration determines the solutions applied in practice. The subject of the analysis will be the legal regulation and the judicial decisions, as well as the activity of various public and non-governmental institutions that are involved in the prevention of this problem. The results of the analysis lead to a reflection on the question as to whether criminal law is really the most effective instrument of solving the problem in question. The matter at issue fits into a wider context of the question of use of law-based instruments in order to achieve certain aims of public policies.
PL
Problem przemocy „honorowej" jest zjawiskiem przekraczającym granice państw, kultur i religii. Przemoc ta najczęściej bywa łączona z krajami i regionami Bliskiego Wschodu - Jordanią, Libanem, Palestyną, irackim Kurdystanem. W Europie oma- wiana kwestia pojawiła się w debacie publicznej dopiero na początku XXI w. i zo- stała ograniczona do kontekstu migracyjnego. Efektem takiej kategoryzacji przemocy „honorowej" jest polityzacja zjawiska, przejawiająca się w silnym uzależnieniu działań podejmowanych przez państwo od takich czynników, jak linia polityczna rządzącej partii czy nastroje społeczne. Celem niniejszego artykułu jest udzielenie odpowiedzi na pytanie o to, w jaki sposób uregulowano prawnie problem prze- mocy „honorowej" w wybranych krajach i regionach: Libanie, Jordanii, irackim Kurdystanie, Wielkiej Brytanii, Holandii i w Niemczech. Umożliwi to identyfikację sposobów walki z tym problemem i wskazanie, czy kontekst migracyjny wpływa na zróżnicowanie stosowanych rozwiązań. Przedmiotem analizy będzie regulacja prawna, a także orzecznictwo sądów oraz działalność różnych instytucji rządowych oraz pozarządowych nakierowanych na walkę z tym problemem. Wyniki badań prowadzą do refleksji nad tym, czy prawo karne rzeczywiście jest najefektywniejszym instrumentem rozwiązania omawianego problemu. Badana problematyka wpisuje się w szerszy kontekst zagadnienia wykorzystywania narzędzi prawnych do osiągania określonych celów polityk publicznych.
This publication deals with the current legal and social situation of women in Afghanistan. The author analyzes the process of formation of the legal position of Afghan women from the moment of the country’s liberation from under the Taliban occupation in 2001. She concentrates on indicating relevant legal regulations and guarantees, as well as – primarily – analyzes the degree of respecting them. Consequently, she discusses selected forms of violence against women which is persistently present on the territory of Afghanistan. The author elaborates on specific cultural phenomena and acts against fundamental women’s rights, such as baad, baadal, the so-called “honor” killings, and punishing women for running away. These points lead to the conclusion that the enacted laws are merely an empty shell and women’s situation is far from stable.
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