Social Problems of Iran

fa واکاوی دلایل بروز پدیدۀ «زن‌کشی به‌نام ناموس» از منظر بازماندگان (خانواده‌های مقتول و قاتل) An Analysis of the Reasons for the Emergence of the Phenomenon Femicide in the Name of Honor from the Perspective of Survivors (the Families of the Victim and the Murderer) مسائل اجتماعی Social problems پژوهشی اصیل Original Research <div style="text-align: justify;">بازتعریف و بازتولید «زن» به‌عنوان «سوژۀ ناموسی» و متعاقب آن، «زن‌کشی به نام ناموس» در اغلب جوامع و کشورهای جهان رایج است. پدیدۀ زن‌کشی به نام ناموس در فرهنگ‌های ناموس‌محور و جوامع مردسالار رُخ می‌دهد. هدف این پژوهش، کشف و واکاوی دلایل بروز پدیدۀ «زن‌کشی به نام ناموس» از منظر بازماندگان آن در شهرستان سردشت است. چارچوب مفهومی تحقیق شامل مفاهیم یادگیری اجتماعی، جامعه‌پذیری جنسیتی، مردسالاری، جامعۀ انضباطی فوکو و جامعۀ کنترل دلوز است. پژوهش حاضر با به‌کارگیری رویکرد کیفی و استفاده از تکنیک مصاحبۀ نیمه‌ساختاریافته برای گردآوری اطلاعات تا رسیدن به اشباع نظری پیش رفت. برای استخراج و تحلیل داده‌ها از تکنیک تحلیل مضمون براون و کلارک (۲۰۰۶) بهره گرفته شد. یافته‌های حاصل از ۱۵ مصاحبه که با روش نمونه‌گیری هدفمند و استراتژی گلوله‌برفی جمع‌آوری شدند، شامل ۱۶۴ مفهوم اولیه، ۱۸ مضمون فرعی و ۴ مضمون اصلیِ «جامعه‌پذیری جنسیتی زن‌ستیز»، «برساخت اجتماعی اُبژۀ ناموس»، «سلطۀ مردسالاری» و «جامعۀ پانوپتیک-کنترلی» است. می‌توان گفت، پدیدۀ زن‌کشی به نام ناموس از منظر بازماندگان آن (خانواده‌های مقتول و قاتل)، از یک زمینه و بستر با جامعه‌پذیری ضدزنانه جهت کنترل و انقیاد زنان نشئت می‌گیرد و با اُبژه‌سازی ناموسی از زنان، هم‌زمان با گسترش و تقویت سلطۀ مردسالاری در یک جامعۀ کنترلی-نظارتی به واقعیت مبدّل می‌گردد.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;">The redefinition and reproduction of 'woman' as 'a subject of honour' and subsequently, 'femicide in the name of honour' is common in most societies and countries around the world. The phenomenon of femicide in the name of honour occurs in honour-based cultures and patriarchal societies. The aim of this research is to discover and examine the reasons for the emergence of the phenomenon of 'femicide in the name of honour' from the perspective of its survivors in Sardasht City. The conceptual framework of the research includes the theories of 'social learning', 'gender socialisation', 'patriarchy', 'Foucault's disciplinary society', and 'Deleuze's society of control'. The current research employed a qualitative approach and used semi-structured interviews for data collection until theoretical saturation was reached. The thematic analysis approach by Braun and Clarke (2006) was used to extract and analyse the findings. The results obtained from 15 interviews, which were collected using purposive and snowball sampling methods, include 164 initial concepts, 18 sub-themes, and 4 main themes: 'Gendered socialisation against women', 'Social construction of the object of honour', 'Male dominance', and 'Panoptic-controlling society'. It can be said that the phenomenon of femicide, referred to as honour, from the perspective of the survivors (the families of the victims and the perpetrators) as participants in the research, originates from a background and context of anti-feminine socialisation aimed at controlling and subjugating women. This, combined with the objectification of women in terms of honour, becomes a reality alongside the expansion and strengthening of patriarchy in a controlling-surveillant society. <a name="_Hlk220184951">Extended Abstract</a> 1. Introduction Honor killing is one of the most severe and brutal crimes against women (Gill, 2006; Heydari et al., 2021: 88). It refers to a specific form of homicide committed by family members against a woman, ostensibly in order to protect or restore the “honor” of the family. The causes of honor killings of women include: refusal of an arranged marriage; falling in love with someone deemed unacceptable by the family; loss of virginity outside marriage; premarital pregnancy; infidelity; extramarital relationships; requesting a divorce; demanding custody of children after divorce; leaving the family or becoming independent without permission; and being a victim of sexual assault (Gill, 2002, 2017: 153–154; Kaur and Byard, 2023: 537). In fact, honor killings represent the most aggressive and prominent form of honor-based violence, in which family reputation and dignity are “restored” by killing a member of the family (Dewantari, 2016; Loza, 2022: 372). In one sense, honor killings constitute a form of “domestic terrorism” (Chesler, 2010). This concept may be extended to argue that they also embody a form of “social terrorism,” involving the complicity of diverse social, political-legal, cultural, and ideological structures. The tragic aspect of femicide in the name of honor is that, within a misogynistic and patriarchal system, women are defined as commodities, objects, and instruments for safeguarding family, tribal, or clan honor. This objectifying and dehumanizing perspective paves the way for multiple forms of violence against women, among which femicide in the name of honor is the most extreme. Equally horrifying is the complicity of most social structures, institutions, and communal elements in such violence and killings, which significantly contributes to their persistence and expansion. In general, given that in different regions and cities of Kurdistan, West Azerbaijan, Kermanshah, and Ilam, dozens of cases of femicide in the name of honor occur every year, and this inhumane phenomenon still prevails in Kurdish society, Sardasht County is no exception. As such, by analyzing the data and information published by Human Rights Organizations, from 2020 to 2025, more than ten women and girls in Sardasht were murdered in the name of honor by their husbands, family members, or close relatives. Accordingly, the objectives of this study are twofold: first, to explore and identify the contexts and conditions contributing to violence against women—especially femicide—and second, to examine the circumstances and factors reinforcing honor-based violence from the perspective of survivors. This study therefore seeks to address the following research questions from the standpoint of survivors of honor killings (families of both the victims and perpetrators): What social contexts and conditions lead to violence against women, particularly honor killings, in Sardasht? Furthermore, what underlying reasons contribute to the persistence and occurrence of such killings? 2. Methodology This research employed a qualitative approach using thematic analysis. The sampling method was purposive and snowball sampling. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15 survivors of honor killings (including families of both victims and perpetrators) residing in Sardasht. With informed consent, interviews were recorded, ranging between 80 and 120 minutes in duration. The recordings were transcribed, repeatedly reviewed, and prepared for the coding process. Thematic analysis was then conducted based on Braun and Clarke’s (2006) six-phase framework. In line with this framework, the interview transcripts were first carefully studied. In the second stage, initial concepts and codes were independently extracted by the researchers. Subsequently, the researchers collaborated to identify sub-themes and overarching main themes. 3. Findings The analysis of the interviews yielded 164 initial codes, 18 sub-themes, and ultimately 4 main themes: “Gendered socialisation against women,” “Social construction of the object of honour,” “Male dominance,” and “Panoptic-controlling society.” 4. Conclusion Honor killings occur in societies structured around honor-based cultural norms and patriarchal systems. It is important to note, however, that the existence of a social issue such as honor killings within a segment of a society’s culture cannot be generalized to the society’s culture as a whole. In fact, the exaggeration of such practices and the social and identity-based stigmatization by dominant and central societies against marginalized and subordinate ones—often accompanied by the minimization of the same issue within dominant societies—reflects the influence of racist and fascist approaches in prevailing discourses. The findings related to the themes of “Gendered socialisation against women” and “Social construction of the object of honour” resonate with Social Learning Theory, the Cycle of Violence, intergenerational transmission, and Gendered Socialisation Theory. In practice, gender roles, cycles and transmission of violence, as well as gendered socialisation, are instilled in girls and boys from early childhood. In this process, girls learn to embody the family’s honor and dignity by adopting submissive and subordinate gender roles under the authority of the family. Conversely, boys are socialised to be independent, dominant, and powerful, exercising control and authority over the opposite sex. Moreover, the phenomenon of the cycle of violence and its transmission within families—as behavioral patterns normalized to enforce the subjugation of girls and women—continues to persist. Moreover, femicide represents the darkest manifestation of society’s fear of change and the perceived erosion of patriarchal control. The hidden motivation behind such killings lies in reinforcing male dominance and silencing anyone who seeks to break free from patriarchal frameworks. Thus, the control of women functions as a symbol of masculine power in value systems grounded in honor. In this sense, femicide in the name of honor becomes a public demonstration of patriarchal power. In normative systems rooted in honor and patriarchal hegemony, women are constantly monitored and controlled by family members, neighbors, relatives, and the broader community. Surveillance and monitoring by family members and society, followed by the spread of rumors, gossip, and normative pressures from others, serve to reinforce and intensify the punishment of women, ultimately leading to violence and, in some cases, their murder. Within such societies, resembling a panoptic-controlling society, women remain under perpetual surveillance and control. This control becomes so pervasive that women internalize it, acting as self-surveilling and self-regulating subjects. In sum, from the perspective of survivors (families of both victims and perpetrators), honor-based femicide emerges from a context of gendered socialisation aimed at controlling and subordinating women. Through the objectification of women as bearers of honor, coupled with the reinforcement of patriarchal dominance within a surveillance-based society, this phenomenon becomes a lived and brutal reality.  </div> ناموس, زن‌کشی, قتل ناموسی, زن‌کشی به‌نام ناموس, خشونت علیه زنان. Honour, Femicide, Honour killing, Femicide in the name of honour, Violence against women 243 283 http://jspi.khu.ac.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-3199-1&slc_lang=fa&sid=1 Sirwan Mahmoudi سیروان محمودی Sirwan2700@gmail.com 2889885925 0009-0006-6236-9315 Yes PhD Student in Cultural Sociology, Department of Social Sciences, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, University of Guilan, Rasht, Iran دانشجوی دکتری جامعه‌شناسی فرهنگی، گروه علوم اجتماعی، دانشکدۀ ادبیات و علوم انسانی، دانشگاه گیلان، رشت، ایران Hannah Ebrahimpour هانا ابراهیم‌پور hannah.ebr1@gmail.com 2889050475 0009-0003-8093-9383 No PhD Student in Cultural Policy, Department of Sociology, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, Kharazmi University, Tehran, Iran دانشجوی دکتری سیاستگذاری فرهنگی، گروه جامعه‌شناسی، دانشکدۀ ادبیات و علوم انسانی، دانشگاه خوارزمی، تهران، ایران Ali Yaghoobi علی یعقوبی yaghoobi@guilan.ac.ir 5690159328 10031947532846007964 No Associate Professor of Sociology, Department of Social Sciences, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, University of Guilan, Rasht, Iran دانشیار جامعه‌شناسی، گروه علوم اجتماعی، دانشکدۀ ادبیات و علوم انسانی، دانشگاه گیلان، رشت، ایران Hamideh Mohammadzadeh حمیده محمدزاده mohammadzadehhamideh64@gmail.com 1583173072 10031947532846007965 No PhD in Cultural Sociology, Department of Social Sciences, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, University of Guilan, Rasht, Iran دکترای جامعه‌شناسی فرهنگی، گروه علوم اجتماعی، دانشکدۀ ادبیات و علوم انسانی، دانشگاه گیلان، رشت، ایران