Honor Crimes: A Media Analysis

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Pages: 2

Honour crimes are characterized as murder with the intention of restoring male power over women who have somehow destroyed their honour. Before the attacks on September 11th, 2001, the honour crime label was reserved for acts of violence against women that exclusively occurred in non-Western settings that are not equitable for women, most notably the Muslim world in the Middle East. This representation allows those in the West to maintain ethnocentrism and detach themselves from what they perceive to be the uncivilized parts of the world. Media accounts of these crimes leave those who are exposed to these portrayals to believe that in areas where Islam is dominant, honour crimes are accepted as part of tradition and are therefore unquestioned.