Nearly 1000 women killed ‘for honour’

A total of 943 women and girls were murdered in Pakistan in 2011 for allegedly defaming their family’s honour, the country’s leading human rights group report said. The statistics released to the media on Thursday highlight the growing scale of violence suffered by women in Pakistan in the absence of any law to counter domestic violence. Despite progress on better protecting women’s rights, activists say the government needs to do more to prosecute murderers in cases largely dismissed by police as private, family concerns. “At least 943 women were murdered in the name of honour killings, of which 93 were minors. Seven Christian and two Hindu women were among the victims,” says Human Rights Commission of Pakistan in its annual report. There were 791 honour killing cases in 2010. Around 595 of the women killed in 2011 were accused of having “illicit relations” and 219 of marrying without permission by the family elders. Some victims were raped or gang raped before being killed, the report said. Most of the women were killed by either their brothers or husbands. Only 20 of 943 killed were reported to have been provided medical aid before they died, the commission pointed out. Despite the rising number of reported killings, activists have praised parliament for passing laws aimed at strengthening women’s protection against abuses.