National Security Threats in Pakistan: Patriarchal Cultural Practices as Cultural Justification for Honour Killing in Pakistan
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21510531Keywords:
Patriarchy, CEDAW, Honour Killing, Cultural violence, Constructivism, PakistanAbstract
This study aims to explore the culture of patriarchy system of honor killing cases that legitimizes violence against women in Pakistan. The practices of honor killing in Pakistan continues to be a phenomenon of cultural and structural violence. Government efforts, through international cooperation under CEDAW. The cases of honor Killing are still raising, which conversely have provided significant impact, after signed the ratification on CEDAW. The high number of honor killing cases is driven by patriarchy system and traditional authority, which serve as fundamental aspects against global human rights order. The methods used is qualitative appoach, including secondary data analysis from reports, legal websites, and literature reviews from various provinces in Pakistan. Previous research had mostly analyzed the impact of honor killing from humanitarian and social perspectives, but still has not examined the cultural roots of the conflict believed to be primary factor raising cases of honor killing in Pakistan, in detail. This study argues that legal reforms alone are insufficient to address the highernumbers of of honor killing across Pakistan in the dynaict of global challenges of modernization through constrcutivism perspectives.
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