Honour Suicide and Forced Suicide in the UK
| Author | Mukaddes Gorar |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/00220183221115294 |
| Published date | 01 October 2022 |
| Date | 01 October 2022 |
HonourSuicideandForcedSuicide
intheUK
MukaddesGorar
HertfordshireLawSchool,UniversityofHertfordshire,UK
Abstract
Thearticleaimstoexplorethephenomenonofsuicideinrelationtohonourbasedviolence
(HBV).AlthoughHBVisexploredindepthinrelationtohonourkilling,forcedmarriageand
femalegenitalmutilation,itslinkandmanifestationintheformofsuicidehasnotbeendis-
cussedinexistingliterature.Thisarticleexamineshowsuicidecanmanifestitselfinhonour
basedpatriarchalcommunitiesaseitherhonoursuicideorforcedsuicide.Althoughboth
formsofsuicidearecarriedoutasaresultofHBV,thereisacrucialdifferencebetween
themandthisneedsbeidentifiedanddistinguishedtoholdperpetratorsaccountablebefore
thelaw.Honoursuicideandforcedsuicidebothoccurinhonourbasedpatriarchalcommu-
nitiesandsuchpracticesspreadaroundtheworldviaimmigration;hencetheUKisnot
immunefromthis.Duetothecomplexityoftheincidentsandvulnerabilityofthevictims,
honoursuicideandforcedsuicidearelikelytobeunreportedandunrecognisedbythe
legalsystem.Therefore,thediscussioninthisarticlewilllookatthenationallawin
EnglandandWalesrelatedtosuicideandcriticallyexaminewhetheritcanaddressinstances
ofhonoursuicideandforcedsuicideiftheyoccurunderitsjurisdiction.Accordingly,itwill
suggestlawreformstoaddresseffectivelytheissueofsuicidecommittedasaresultofHBV
andabuse.
Keywords
Honoursuicide,forcedsuicide,honourbasedviolence,suicide,UKlaw
Introduction
Thisarticleaimstoexplorethephenomenonofsuicideinrelationtohonourbasedviolence(HBV).Itwill
examinehowsuicidecanmanifestitselfinhonourbasedpatriarchalcommunitiesaseitherintheformof
honoursuicide(honourbasedsuicide)orforcedsuicide.Althoughbothformsofsuicidearecarriedoutas
aresultofHBV,thereisacrucialdifferencebetweenthemwhichneedstobeidentifiedanddistinguished
toholdperpetratorsaccountable.
Althoughhonourbasedsuicidesarewidespreadinhonourbasedpatriarchalcommunities,theyarenot
specifictoonecountry,culture,orreligion.HBVisaformofgenderbasedviolenceaswellasasub
Correspondingauthor:
MukaddesGorar,HertfordshireLawSchool,UniversityofHertfordshire.
E-mail:m.gorar@herts.ac.uk
Article
TheJournalofCriminalLaw
2022,Vol.86(5)308–326
©TheAuthor(s)2022
Articlereuseguidelines:
sagepub.com/journals-permissions
DOI:10.1177/00220183221115294
journals.sagepub.com/home/clj
specificofdomesticviolence(DV).
1
Both,DVandHBVarecapableofinducingtheirvictimstocommit
suicide.
2
Empiricalresearchconductedin2018ondomesticabuseandsuicide,involvingasampleof
morethan3500ofaRefuge’sclients,illustratedworryingstatistics:24%oftheparticipantshadfeltsui-
cidalatonetimeoranother,18%hadmadeplanstoendtheirlivesand3.1%hadmadeatleastone
attempt.
3
ThisReporthighlightstheprevalenceofsuicidalideationandattemptsatsuicideamongdomes-
ticallyabusedvictimsintheUK.Itsupportsexistingresearchbyillustratingasignificantassociation
betweentheexperienceofdomesticabuseanditsnegativepsychologicaleffectsonvictims.
4
Similarly,inarecentsubmissionofevidencetoParliamentbySouthallBlackSisters,BAMEregarding
migrantwomen’svulnerabilitytoseveraltypeofabusesincludingdomestichomicide,‘honour’killings
andsuicidewereacknowledged.
5
Accordingtoresearch,thenumberofattemptedorsuccessfulsuicides
isuptothreetimeshigheramongBritishAsianwomenthanthenationalaverageintheUK,especially
amongthoseagedbetween15and24yearsold.
6
Thisistheagegroupmainlyexposedtoothertypesof
HBVsuchasarrangedorforcedmarriage.Anotherempiricalresearchaddedthat12.9%ofHBVvictims
inSouthAsiancommunity,hadattemptedsuicideatthetimeoftheresearch.
7
Honoursuicideandforcedsuicidebothoccurinhonourbasedpatriarchalcommunitiesandsuchprac-
ticeshavespreadaroundtheworldviamigrationandintosecondgenerationcommunitieswherecultural
normsandjustificationsforconductandexpectationsofwomen’sbehaviourhavebeenpasseddown
throughgenerations.Duetothecomplexityofincidentsandthevulnerabilityofvictims,honour
suicideandforcedsuicidearelikelytoremainunreportedandunrecognisedbythelegalsystem.In
theabsenceofanyrecordedcasesspecifictoHBVrelatedsuicideintheUK,literatureonDVrelated
suicidewillbeconsideredasanalogous.IndiscussingHBVinducedsuicides,casesfromdifferentcoun-
trieswillprovideevidenceillustratinghowbothtypesofsuicidearemanifested.
DVandHBVarebothconsideredasexamplesofgenderbasedviolenceastheyaremainlydirectedat
womenandgirlsandperpetratedmostlybymeninordertocontrolfemalebehaviour.
8
Bothtypesofvio-
lencehavesimilaritiesaswellasdifferencesbuttherecanalsobeatransitionalrelationshipbetweenthem
whereDVcantransferitselftoHBV.
9
AsacknowledgedbyMunroandAitken,despiteevidencesuggest-
ingasignificantrelationshipbetweendomesticabuseandsuicidality,andnotwithstandingthefactthat
domestichomicidesperpetratedbyabusivepartnersareanongoingpriorityandasourceofconcernto
thecriminaljusticesystem,theissueofdomesticabuserelatedsuicidehasreceivedremarkablylittle
attentionfromthestate.
10
ThediscussioninthisarticlewilllookattheexistingnationallawinEnglandandWalesrelatingto
involuntarymanslaughterandsuicideandcriticallyexaminewhetheritcanaddressinstancesof
honoursuicideandforcedsuicideeffectively.ThisarticlewillalsoconsiderhowHBVcancontribute
toavictim’ssuicideaswellasconsideringrelevantcasesofDVleadingtosuicide.Inadditionto
1.RReddy,‘DomesticViolenceorCulturalTradition?Approachesto“HonourKilling”asSpeciesandSubspeciesinEnglish
LegalPractice’inAKGilletal.‘Honour’Killing&Violence(PalgraveMacMillan2014)29.
2.UNNews,‘Forcedmarriages,domesticviolencecontributestofemalesuicideinTurkey–UNexpert’(1June2006).
3.RAitkenandVEMunro,‘DomesticAbuseandSuicideExploringtheLinkswithRefuge’sClientBaseandWorkForce’(2018)
2RefugeandWarwickawSchool.
4.Ibid3.
5.WrittenevidencesubmittedtoParliamentCommitteesbySouthallBlackSisters(COR0082)points3and10(April2020).
6.GAGregoryetal.,‘Honour-basedViolence:AwarenessandRecognition’(2020)30(11)PaediatricsandChildHealth;B
Ineichen,‘SuicideandAttemptedSuicideamongSouthAsiansinEngland:WhoisatRisk?’(2008)5(3)MentHealthFamMed.
7.RKhan,SSaleemandMLowe,‘“Honour”-basedviolenceinaBritishSouthAsiancommunity’(2018)17(1)Safer
CommunitiesJournal16.
8.MGorar,HonourBasedCrimesandtheLaw:DefiningtheLimitsofHonourBasedViolenceandAbuse(Routledge2021)35.
9.Ibid.
10.VEMunroandRAitken,‘AddingInsulttoInjury?TheCriminalLaw’sResponsetoDomesticAbuse–RelatedSuicidein
EnglandandWales’(2018)732CrimLR.
Gorar309
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