At least 1,000 women were killed last year in Pakistan by relatives who believed they had dishonoured their families. What is honour-based violence and how can we understand it?

In its annual report, the Human Rights Commission said that honour killings are on the rise in Pakistan, with about 1,000 women dying in honour-related attacks in 2014. “The predominant causes of these killings were domestic disputes, alleged illicit relations and exercising the right of choice in marriage,” the report said. In other words, most victims are women whose families do not want them to interact with men or marry without their permission. A large number of such crimes go unreported.

Flavia Bellieni Zimmermann of the AIIA for WA spoke to Nayab Gohar Jan of the Community Support Centre in Pakistan about the issue of killings or violence intended to cleanse the stain of dishonour brought on a family by a woman’s behaviour.

Nayab Gohar Jan is a social entrepreneur from the Community Support Centre, Pakistan. 

Interview by Flavia Bellieni Zimmermann.

Video and Photography by Nancye Miles-Tweedie.