Honor as Property

Using the principles of property law, this article examines honour-based violence against women and the use of familial honour as social capital. The author suggests that societies around the world treat honour as intangible property that is collectively held by families, controlled by males, and dependent on female conformity to societal norms. Since females cause the value of honour property to fluctuate, males regulate their conduct and use violence to restore its value. Justice systems reinforce these practices by offering reduced punishment for honour crimes or permitting "heat of passion" defences. The author proposes to redefine honour in two ways. First, women should be viewed as honour property holders. Second, honour should not be determined by a woman's sexuality. A possible response to this redefinition is using stricter criminal sanctions for honour crimes to signal disapproval at recovering honour through violence. Community-level discourse denouncing honour crimes is also required.