The European Journal of Public Health Advance Access originally published online on March 13, 2009
The European Journal of Public Health 2009 19(2):193-197; doi:10.1093/eurpub/ckp021
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International Health |
The epidemiological patterns of honour killing of women in Pakistan
Muazzam Nasrullah1,2,3, Sobia Haqqi4 and Kristin J. Cummings5
1 Department of Emergency Medicine, The Aga Khan University, Karachi 74800, Pakistan
2 Injury Control Research Center, West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia 26506, USA
3 Department of Community Medicine, West Virginia University School of Medicine, Health Science Center, Morgantown, WV 26506, USA
4 Department of Psychiatry, The Aga Khan University, Stadium Road, Karachi 74800, Pakistan
5 201 Jade Drive, Morgantown, West Virginia 26508, USA
Correspondence: Dr Muazzam Nasrullah, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), 1095 Willowdale Road, Mailstop H-2800 Morgantown, WV 26505, USA, tel: +1 304 285 6095, fax: +1 304 285 5820, e-mail: snasrullah{at}cdc.gov; mnasrullah{at}hsc.wvu.edu
Received March 10, 2008 , accepted February 1, 2009
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.
Keywords: cultural practices, gender, honour killing, Karo Kari, Pakistan, violence
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