Family honor

Family honor (or honour) is an abstract concept involving the perceived quality of worthiness and respectability that affects the social standing and the self-evaluation of a group of related people, both corporately and individually.

Areas that are affected by family honor include multiple aspects of lifestyle such as social status, religion, clothing, eating, education, job or career, ownership such as real estate, and marriage.

[8][16] In the present Islamic culture, men hold a higher social status, but they also carry more responsibility in caring and providing for their family.

[21] For example, if a married woman committed adultery, her father had the legal right to kill her whereas her husband was required to divorce her.

[25] Males and females in this type of honor culture may act as either persecutors and the oppressed,[23] for instance a son in a family may be forced to enter into an arranged marriage by his older relatives while controlling his sisters.

Honor cultures exist throughout the world but are more common among peoples from regions stretching from North Africa via the Middle East, Central Asia and to the Indian subcontinent.

[28][29] For example, the sexual relationships of a girl are seen in these societies to make her impure and of lesser value, which affects her eligibility for marriage.

[35] Rugiatu Turay, founder of the Amazonian Initiative Movement, protects young girls from being circumcised by other women in secret societies like Sande and other female practitioners who still engage in the ceremonial tradition today.

Many women in Turkey are well educated[38] but still are expected to be modest and sexually chaste in order to preserve the perceived honor of their families.

[39] With recent changes to criminal law that removed reduced sentences for honor killings, women that are accused of bringing shame to the family are sometimes forced to commit honor suicides by their families, especially in the predominantly Kurdish South-East regions, a region that greatly values traditions.

Stories have surfaced revealing girls who are given tools with which to kill themselves such as rope to hang themselves, poisons to drink, or a gun to shoot themselves.

[41] Members of the Republican People Party have stated that in the six months preceding Hatice Firat's death a woman had been killed every day because of domestic violence.

For example, family honor is strongly linked to female chastity in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India in a similar fashion to Middle Eastern and Mediterranean societies.

Therefore, both the East Asian student and the parents had to marshal resources and work diligently to curtail the likelihood of academic failure in order to avoid bringing shame to the family.

In Feudal Japan, for example, ritualized suicide practices such as harakiri were committed by Japanese samurai for centuries in the event of a defeat in battle.

[48] In Europe, similar to traditional practices in South Africa, honor relates to different concepts depending on the geographic area; whereas honor is strongly linked to family reputation in the Mediterranean countries, in Northern Europe it has a more individualized meaning that is focused on personal accomplishments and qualities.

[51] In mainly Muslim Kosovo, the impact on family honor of admitting one has been raped, has discouraged some women from applying for compensation as victims of atrocities committed during the 1998–99 war with Serbia.

[52] In Denmark, the migration authority published that 24% of immigrants of non-Western heritage and their offspring of ages 18–29 were limited in their choice of partner by their relatives.

The report showed a higher incidence for women than men and in areas with high concentrations of migrants, 59% were limited in choice of partner.

[56] In a 2009 study by the Swedish Agency for Youth and Civil Society (MUCF), about 70,000 individuals of ages 16–25 stated they could not freely choose whom to marry.

[57] The MUCF report is limited to people aged 16–25 and for instance excludes adult women who wish to divorce but are threatened with violence due to family honor.

Figures published by the Crown Prosecution Service showed that 256 crimes were referred to the CPS by police in 2016–17, about 5% of the cases reported.

[63] Public opinion for dueling varied: some thought it was a barbaric and backwards custom, while others believed it was a perfectly legitimate way of dealing with affronts to honor.

The Hispanic culture values modesty for all individuals including males and children in addition to females who are historically expected to behave in a modest fashion.

[65] In the aspect of childbirth, men are required to wait until after the mother has given birth and dressed in a decent manner to visit his wife and newborn child.

[66][67] In the late 1800s Viveiros de Castro noted an increase in violations of female honor within Brazil at the turn of the century.

[68] Because women chose to leave the traditional role of being the homemaker they lost the characterization of being innocent and some assumed they were engaging sexual activities.

[67][68] Michael Herzfeld, an anthropologist, argued that the idea of women losing their chastity derived from those who wished to explain a woman's new role within society.

In doing so, attempts by the upper class would be made to hide Brazil's struggle of poverty which was a main part of its society and culture at the time.

[66] Before the King and Queen arrived, preparing for the couple included exposing and exercising honor in a manner many believed would promote the division of social classes and international affairs.