IT is a tragedy reported with more distressing regularity in this country than in the UK: the murder of a young girl at the hands of her family for having brought dishonour to them. But the euphemistically named ‘honour killings’ seem to be becoming an issue in the West too. The crucial difference is that unlike here, in those countries every effort is made to prosecute perpetrators and hand down severe sentences. In the most recent such trial, on Friday a London jury sentenced a Pakistani couple to a minimum of 25 years in prison for having suffocated their daughter to death in 2003. Reportedly, the 17-year-old Shafilea did not want to live her life by her parents’ strict — and conservative — rules. Earlier this year, three members of an Afghan family were sentenced by a Canadian court for the drowning of three sisters and another woman because they defied the family’s strict customs. Just weeks earlier, in December 2011, a Brussels court sentenced four members of a Pakistani family for the ‘honour killing’ of a family member in 2007.

It would appear, then, that the argument often heard in Pakistan that such crimes, when committed here, are the result of ignorance, lack of education or the sheer lawlessness of society is far from the truth. Going by the examples mentioned above, such murders are not restricted to people who are out of touch with modernity or unaware of the law and the consequences of transgressing it. A more plausible answer may be found in the words of the Canadian judge, Robert Maranger, who sentenced the Afghan family: he described the crimes as “cold-blooded, shameful murders” resulting from a “twisted concept of honour”. Reflect on the term ‘honour killing’ and it appears that popular discourse has adopted the language of the criminals. This provides a measure of defence, though not in legal terms, to the act. Were such crimes to be referred to as what they are — murder — some of the cultural barriers behind which the perpetrators try to hide may begin to crumble.