Invitation: Network to prevent honour-based crimes

CRIMES IN THE NAME OF HONOUR

The current legislative situation in India

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Invitation: Join the ‘Network to Combat  Crimes Committed in the Name of Honour’.

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    Disclaimer (Please tick below to submit the form):

     

    On October 15th, 2022, representatives from over 20 civil society organizations from 10 states of India including National Network for Dalit and Human Rights (NCDHR), National Dalit Movement for Justice (NDMJ), Dalit Human Rights Defenders Network (DHRDNet), National Council for Women Leaders (NCWL), Dhanak for Humanity, People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), Centre for Law and Policy Research (CLPR) among others agreed to jointly initiate  a Network with the goal of preventing crimes committed in the name of honour.

    The complex and dangerous nature of honour violence, especially in India, cannot be understated. With no law on the books and no definite way to determine cases, convictions in cases of honour killings remain woefully low.

    Network to prevent and combat honour-based crimes.

    The campaign, titled ‘Network To Combat Against Crimes Committed in the Name of Honour’ is a National network of national and grass-roots organizations working with an anti-caste, anti-patriarchy, feminist and minority protection ethic.

    The Network is aimed at bringing legislative, legal and social protections for persons engaged in inter-caste, inter-faith and queer-trans marriages and associations. This work involves:

    • Working towards enactment of national and state legislations to prevent honour-based crimes.
    • Ensuring that honour-based crimes are recorded[1] , shared publicly, and survivors receive justice and protection.
    • Raising awareness among the public on honour-based crimes using all forms of media.

    Requirements for members.

    This is a voluntary network. However, given the urgency of the issue, we request all members to make time for the following:

    • An online public meeting to be held on the last Friday of every month to discuss actions and plans.
    • Endorsement of the demand for state and national level legislations to prevent honour-based crimes.
    • Inclusion of honour-based crimes prevention in the work done by you or your organization.

     

    For far too long, honor-based crimes in India have gone unreported, unaddressed and most importantly its survivors and victims have received no justice or support for recovery.

    Join the National network aimed at combating addressing crimes committed in the name of honor. No more impunity, no more loss.

    Current status  on honour-based crimes in India:

    1. No legislation on honour-based crimes and killings in India.
    2. As there is no dedicated law, the only data recorded is honour killing as a motive for murder. This is inadequate and reductive and does not address honour-based crimes other than killings.
    3. National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) has only started to record ‘Honour killings’ as a motive for murder since 2014, recording a total of 540 deaths. These statistics are conflict with figures of honour killings as reported by NGOs which place the deaths to be much higher. Such underrepresented data is detrimental for addressing honour crimes in the country.
    4. The United Nations reports that one in five cases of honour killing internationally is reported from India.

    Endorsements for enacting specific legislations to address honour-based crimes:

    1. The Supreme Court of India, in Shakti Vahini vs Union of India, vehemently recommends separate legislation and laid down preventive, remedial and punitive measures to combat honour-based crimes.
    2. The 242nd Law Commission Report, 2012 recommended legislation specific to crimes in the name of honour and even included a draft bill.

    What the network has worked on until now:

    1. Documented cases committed in the name of honour due to inter-caste marriages and associations in states of Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh. The report also contains recommendations for addressing honour-based crimes and can be viewed here. There is on-going work on gathering data on honour-cased crimes committed in the name of religion, ethnicity and sexual orientation.
    2. In collaboration with Centre for Law and Policy Research (CLPR) drafted a bill  “The Freedom of Marriage and Association and Prohibition of Crimes in the Name of Honour 2022”.

    In the absence of a specific law which makes ‘honour’ as the motive behind killing, the cases remain reported under diverse laws. The NCRB data elucidates that in 2018, there were 10,773 people who eloped due to their “love relationships” which shows that there numerous people who are at risk to be killed due to their inter-caste/regional romantic relationships15

    WE APPEAL TO YOU TO JOIN THE NETWORK