Assessing The Issues of Honour and Violence Against Women: A Human Rights Discourse Framework for The Detection of Violence Against Women

: The term 'Honour Killing' is conventionally used to denote a specific category of extralegal killings where the act of murder is seen to have been motivated by pre-modern affiliations/sentiments of some sort. Acts of violence committed against people for marrying outside of caste/religion/ethnicity or other similar infringements where they are seen by their actions to have besmirched the honour of the family and the larger community come under the broad rubric of honour crime. Implicit in using the term are assumptions that mark it as different from other crimes. Honour is defined in terms of women assigned sexual and familial roles as dictated by traditional family ideology. Thus, adultery, premarital relationships (which may or may not include sexual relations), rape, and falling in love with an "inappropriate" person may constitute violations of family honour. 'Crimes of honour' as a form of violence against women does not imply that men also are not subjected to such crimes. In cases of forced marriage or interference with the right of choice and whom to marry, pressure from older family members over younger members will apply to men as well as to women. However, women remain the victims and survivors of 'crimes of honour' and have fewer available remedies.


Introduction
A hierarchy of dominance and subordination, as well as institutionalized violence and victimization, are inherent in any hierarchical social order.This is maintained by a variety of strategies, including subliminal pressure brought about by dogma, the process of internalized social standards, and a social punishment punishing crime.For the purposes of this study, we accept Kelkar & Krishnaraj's definition of violence as physical violence, threats, physical and mental harassment brief, all open and overt expressions of coercion [1] [2].Following is a definition of violence from the 1993 UN General Assembly Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women: "any act of gender-based violence against women that results in or is likely to result in physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivations of liberty, whether occurring in public or private spaces."Gender-based violence is seen as a violation of women's human rights and freedom of expression.According to a WHO report, in women between the ages of 15 and 44, gender violence causes more deaths and disabilities than all types of cancer, malaria, auto accidents, and war put together.Violence, in general, is a form of coercion used to enforce the desire of one person to create or develop one's own strength over another.Many types of violence are specifically targeted at women.All these result from the patriarchal structure, which is roughly characterized as a male dominance system that is justified by the best law, goodness, authority, and power in the family and society.Patriarchy takes several shapes and manifests itself differently in different societies.Yet, the practice of subordination is typically accomplished by underestimating women's contributions while also demanding a large commitment from them.A second phase is brought about by a strong ideology that places women in tightly defined roles that serve as boundaries for all their actions and that they can only cross at their own risk.The virtual ban on women in public spaces or locations is usually the most powerful and restrictive injunction.According to Meera Kosambi, Gender-based violence underscores the inadequacy, ineffectiveness, and unwillingness of the State machinery to curb violence against women [3].
1.1 Are there racial differences in how women are treated?Research on gender-based violence ignores the killing of women in the name of honour, as we see in an important report by Meera Kosambi cited above, as they believe it is a crime unique to the Asian subcontinent.But, Asians migrated from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and East Africa spread across religious, age, caste, class, and racial groupings in the West, particularly in the USA, UK, and Canada, and similarly display crimes committed.According to Roger Ballard, "Honour killing is by definition a cultural crime, in the sense that it can only be committed by a person for whom issues of personal and familial honour are of pressing concern; and since such concepts ceased to have any significant social or psychological traction amongst members of North Western Europe's indigenous majorities, the only circumstances in which a suspicion that an honour related crime might have occurred is when the incident occurred within the context of a community in which such ideas do indeed still have traction -in other words amongst those of South Asian, Middle Eastern and North African -and more often than not of Muslimextraction" [4].Such discourses of ethnic-based crimes against women were part of the orientalist discourses in the colonial settings.The Britishers painted the image of the oriental home as a diseased, dark, unclean place that demonstrated the inability of native societies to control themselves.But, because the gender hierarchy is regionally changing and mediated by other entities, women do not represent a single, timeless, or ineluctable other.As Burton [5] puts it, the domain of home or its boundaries are drawn for it by "the larger culture, as well as by the political economies of race, nation, sexuality, and empires that shape it."Oldenburg accuses British colonialism of the deterioration of the dowry system.She claims land ownership was not developed in pre-modern India when dowry was common.Even though patriarchy forbade women from inheriting from their husbands or dads, there wasn't much to inherit to begin with.Everyone had only some usufructuary rights in producing land, and there was no absolute right to land and its ownership.Women who left their father's property lost their right to use it, while they used their husband's property.The patriarchal family turned into rich and poor only when the land was divided and divided through British colonial rule, especially in the 1850s.The colonialists created long-term debt in the patriarchal family by collecting taxes from the land regardless of the harvest.Long-term debt revives an old practice (dowry) as a way to reduce business.It is then that not only land but also women who married out of their father's households became commodified and marginalized [6].Notwithstanding the patriarchal underpinnings of the pre-colonial social structure in India, the British legal apparatus reinforced and rigidified the patriarchy, and this was done through the controversial but productive process of bringing British law to colonial locations, which led to fresh conflicts over authority, legality, and power.Law during the colonial era was not just a tool of colonial administration; it was also a battleground where local social hierarchies, state power, and the relationship between subjects and the state were redefined.The British deliberately left the regulation of religion, culture, and "private law" in the hands of powerful local social groups because they believed that their authority only applied to questions of economy and order.This meant that, for the first time in Indian history, Hindus and Muslims were to be ruled by what the British understood to be "Hindu law" and "Muslim law," respectively, and classical texts and not local practice.Agnes demonstrates how the Anglo-Saxon jurisprudence subverted the traditional legal system and, in the name of reform of barbaric customs of burning of widows, female infanticide, and marital rape of infant brides, introduced linear, formal, and stringent legal institutions in place of plural, informal and flexible indigenous legal arrangements.In the process, the patriarchal control over women and their property rights was strengthened, contrary to popular perceptions of the impact of colonial rule in South Asia [7].For example, the Mitakshara School of Law in India broadened the definition of stridhana to cover all types of property gained by women, including inheritance and property division.The Stridhana, i.e., all items given to a woman at the time of her marriage or the marriage ceremony and any items left to her in a will and gifts from her parents, siblings, and in-laws, are considered her property.But, British legal rulings altered this idea and ruled that inherited property owned by women was not stridhana.A new legal standard was progressively established through court decisions: regardless of whether a woman inherits the property from her female relatives (mother, mother's mother, daughter) or from her male relatives (father, husband, son), Upon widow's death, the property returned to the husband's male relatives.The introduction of this concept of 'revisioners', which was basically a legal principle under English law, bestowed upon the male relatives the right to challenge all property dealings by the Hindu widows [8].Honour, Pitt-Rivers states, is the value of a person in his own eyes, but also in the eyes of his society; it is irrevocably committed by attitudes expressed in the presence of witnesses, the representatives of public opinion [9].In view of Campbell, the manliness of the men in any family protects the sexual honour of its women from external insult or outrage.In contrast to honour, which is the opposite of shame and is more appropriate for women, shame is more frequently associated with men.It is obvious that manliness and shame are favorable traits in connection with honour.Honour and shame are two poles of an evaluation and are the constant preoccupation of individuals in small-scale, exclusive societies, where face-to-face personal, as opposed to anonymous, relations are of paramount importance and where the social personality of the actor is as significant as his office [10].Shame and honour do not represent "primordial ideals".Davis distinguishes between a separate moral category that results from achieving a reputation among social peers and an honour of status, an attributed category tied to possessions.Nonetheless, the latent economic component present in many native words for honour implies that status and power may also be significant depending on the situation.The component of manual work is frequently crucial as a gauge, either in a negative or positive meaning, when honour reflects this economic element.Gilsenan's work in Lebanon provides an intriguing example of this labor-content-of-honor.He describes the rural "men of honor" in terms of their distance from despised manual work [11].Their honor devolves from land ownership and the resultant freedom from labor: honor and leisure are inseparable, and "work and honor are opposed."There are numerous ways to heal an honour wound, even though honour (and shame) must be displayed in public.In fact, honour may be gained and lost, bargained, and renegotiated.Conflicts over a non-material honour serve as a symbolic venue or release for male anger and rivalry.The sphere of "honour" is rightly seen by Black-Michaud as a cultural diversion for strong, aggressive forces that may otherwise break into open hostility: "Conflicts over honor make it possible for hostile groups to expend their aggressive energies upon each other without drawing in the society as a whole" [12].According to Dubisch, this interpretation of the code of honour and shame creates several cultural dichotomies and assumes a distinct gender division between the public and private spheres.Hence, she adds, by considering women weaker and more prone to sin sexually, this code is reinforced by the religious discourses generally [13].The difficulties academics have in analyzing the concept of honour stem from the pretense that it should be applied arbitrarily to many cultures against the interests of a more complex definition.Herzfeld draws attention to the term's ambiguous semantics.For him, the concept is not monolithic.Its nuances and significance change depending on the setting, even within nearby communities.Herzfeld notes that the English word "honour" collapses a variety of nuances and emphases in different native words.For Anthropologist Gilmore, honour is directly tied to wealth [14].This implies that there is a hidden economic component and that, depending on the situation, class and power are also important.The notion of 'honour' is also linked to the sexual division of labor.As correctly noted by French academic Bourdieu, the social order acts as a massive symbolic order that tends to validate the masculine dominance on which it is based.It is the sexual division of labor and activities as well as the structuring of space in which assembly and market are reserved for men and house and hearth reserved for women [15].A significant amount of male anxiety and worry is related to an uncontrollable feminine desire.Male perceptions of women as a threat and a symbol of anarchy and turmoil are prevalent.This fearful perception of women undoubtedly reflects potent aspects of masculine psychological projection.The male "gaze" has historically been a tool of knowledge, power, domination, and sexuality.It has been ruthlessly employed to shame people and support a punitive morality in the struggle for reputation.The primary tool of social control is fear of exposure in public.Since shame is a visual emotion, it is different from guilt in that it demands an audience.The process of cleansing of female sexuality has been going on in colonial and post-colonial South Asia.The effort to rehabilitate women in the era of social and religious changes has also been highlighted by scholars.Malhotra believes it to be a part of a middle-class effort of purging, whereby the women were shielded from 'other' men's eyes, particularly those of lower castes, by wearing in a specific style.Prem Chowdhary also emphasizes the transition in rural Haryana from the Ghaghra (long skirt) and kameez to the salwar-kameez ensemble.He explains the continuation of ghunghat (veil or purdah) as a symbol of sexual control and ideology of seclusion but also stresses that participation in agricultural fieldwork also led to the adoption of veil known as dhatia (wrapping of face and head) in such a way so as to leave eyes unveiled so also the bosom as odni (or a long scarf) is thrown back well behind the shoulders, closely hugging the neck) as a utilitarian aspect [16] [17].Considering the significance of clothing in a related situation, according to Himani Banerjee, patriarchy provided the fundamental principles for the right investiture of the female body, and clothing served as a moral indicator of women's social positions.Hence, the clothing served as a type of moral adornment, representing ideologically class-gendered ideas of proper conduct or etiquette like courtesy, decent behavior, and lajja, or shame.The idea of shame, or lajja, evolved into "an ornament of women," a particularly admirable feminine quality that included an acute understanding of sexual possibilities and infused aspects of denial, forbiddances, and guilt into female sexuality [18].

The Ideological and Material Foundation of 'Crime of Honour'
The term "crimes of honour" refers to a variety of violent acts committed against women, such as "honour killings," assaults, confinement or imprisonment, and interference with marital choice, where the publicly stated "justification" is attributed to a social order ostensibly necessary to preserve a concept of "honour" vested in male (family and/or conjugal) control over women, specifically women's sexual behavior, whether actual, suspected, or potential.The allocated sexual and familial responsibilities for women are how the traditional family concept defines honour.So, adultery, extramarital affairs (which may or may not involve sexual activity), rape, and falling in love with a "unsuitable" person are all crimes against family honour.Even while crimes of honour are a kind of violence against women, men can become victims of these crimes as well.In circumstances of forced marriage or interference with the right to choose whether to be married or not, as well as to whom to get married, pressure from older family members over younger family members will apply to both men and women.Despite the fact that there are fewer effective solutions for them, women continue to make up the majority of "crimes of honour" victims and survivors.The normative claim of honour "often is mixed with social, economic, or political motives," according to sociological studies of "family honour" in various contexts, according to Araji.In other words, "family honour" is linked to social standing and mobility, and economic opportunities and "vested interests" use the excuse of honour as a general cover for a variety of sins.The phrase "Honour Killing" is frequently used to describe a particular category of extralegal homicides where the killing is thought to have been motivated by pre-modern attitudes or connections.The term "honour crime" refers to a broad category of offenses where the perpetrators are believed to have harmed the reputation of the family and the larger community.These offenses include acts of violence committed against people for getting married outside of their caste, religion, or ethnicity.By virtue of the term alone, it is implied that this crime is separate from others.First, it should be noted that people are not responsible for breaking the law as it currently stands; they are responsible for breaking community norms and codes that govern people's behavior.This is because it is assumed that the power of these codes comes from sources other than the state, such as the community and religion.Second, the "honour killing" has some credibility in the immediate community.Particularly, "honour crimes" put the state in a difficult position and undermined its rationale.These cause us to bemoan the barbarism of a society with contemporary legal systems, but which is too "behind" to get past deeply ingrained caste, religious, gender, and racial attachments.Nonetheless, the myth of "due process of law" continues to stand unimpaired since the "honour crime" is seen as a failure not of the law itself but of how it was applied; not a failure of the machinery of justice but a failure of those charged with administering justice.The history of "honour killings" is extensive.It is related to the rise of patriarchal social structures in Asia and Europe, where the sexuality of the community's women began to be inextricably tied with the family's and community's honour.The survival of agrarian and tribal civilizations depended heavily on their ability to control the sources of production, such as land and cattle, as well as the sources of reproduction, namely women.The control of a woman's libido and the preservation of her chastity were essential to determining the paternity of children, ensuring the preservation of lineage, and securing the rights to property ownership.Hence, a community's worth was essentially tied to its land and women, and ideas of shame and honour developed concerning these goods.As a result, men would fight to protect their property and their women.And if the severe rules governing sexual relations were broken, they would kill the women.The practices are widespread in agrarian societies across the globe.Leader-Elliott shows how Adultery was considered a crime against property under English Common Law because it was seen as treating women as chattel.French law, which had a more Gallic perspective, viewed it as a violation of honour.Even today, when adultery is no longer a crime, for example, in countries such as Britain or Australia, men killing their wives can rely on the law of sexual provocation to plead mitigating circumstances in their defense [19].Baluchistan's pre-Islamic tribal culture and the northwest frontier is where the practice of "honour killings" in South Asia first emerged.As asserted by Nafisa Shah, a researcher who has written extensively on the subject, such killings have been taking place for generations and are encapsulated in the traditional practices of kala kali in southern Punjab, karo Kari in Sindh, siyahkari in Baluchistan, and tor tora in the NWFP.The phrases, which have a "blackness" connotation, convey the social stigmatization of both the act of adultery and the people who are accused of it.The stigma was typically only removed via death, just as it is now.Hence, a woman's status was complicated in tribal society.One illustration of her function was the trinity of zan, zar, zamin, or woman, riches, and land, which were historically regarded as the objects of man's greatest desire.She could have been possessed or traded as "property" to fortify alliances, resolve tribe conflicts, or settle personal grudges, like how land or animals could be.It might be claimed that a woman's worth as the property was intimately tied to the other, allegedly more noble, part of her place in society, namely, that as a reservoir of male and tribe honour.These factors served as the idea of honor's material underpinnings in a sense.Stokes notes the vagueness of the term bhaiyachara tenure used by the colonial administrators to describe a kind of proprietary brotherhood that had existed in parts of northern India.The form of social organization and division of labor that excluded the service castes from ownership and control of land resources could have been a part of the 'collectivity' of production, distribution, and even consumption patterns that became the foundation of the political economy in this region.However, the notion of such a homogenous and compact fraternity of peasant proprietors, even in the semi-arid and food scarcity-prone area surrounding Rohtak, was only a misnomer, and there was a deep cleavage and differentiation within the ranks of such a 'fraternity'.This material basis also provided the root of the rules governing marriage and the exchange of women within clans and communities.The 'crime of honour' phenomenon is integrally linked to the predominance of patrilineality throughout South Asia.The social organization and even the state structure, law, and public policy are imbued with this kind of ideological underpinnings and trappings.As Kapur and Cossman remark: " Many aspects of legal regulations are shaped by assumptions of women's economic dependency within a patrilineal and patrilocal joint family.Within this structure, women are assumed to be economically dependent on the male members of their families--fathers, husbands, and sons.Both maintenance and property laws and the legal regulation of women's work are shaped by and serve to re-inscribe women's economic dependency" [20].Uberoi shows how India has a variety of marriage practices and how, in both the Special Marriage Act of 1954 and the Hindu Marriage Act of 1955, caste endogamy and the principle of gotra-exogamy were no longer a requirement for a valid Hindu marriage.It was argued that the primitive eugenic wisdom of gotra-exogamy made no sense as the people of the same gotra residing in distant places could not conceivably have close blood relations [21].In Hindu society, the term "Gotra" broadly refers to those who are descended from a common male ancestor in an unbroken male line.For grammatical purposes, Panini defines gotra as apatyam pautraprabhrti gotram., which means "the word gotra denotes the progeny (of a sage) beginning with the son's son."Gotra, an ancient system of tribal clans, is known in Sanskrit.The Vedic people were the first to utilize the Sanskrit word "gotra" to denote the lineages.These lineages typically refer to patrilineal descent from ancient scholars or rishis in the case of Brahmins, warriors, and rulers in the case of Kshatriyas, and traders in the case of Vaisyas.In a patrilineal Hindu community, which is the most prevalent, the bride is a member of her father's gotra prior to marriage and her husband's gotra following it.On the other hand, the bridegroom has always been a member of his father's gotra.According to the exogamy norm of the conventional matrimonial system, weddings within the gotra (also known as "sagotra marriages") are not authorized.Sagotra is the combination of the terms "sa" and "gotra," where "sa" stands for the same or comparable.Marriage to someone from the same gotra is seen as incest because they are considered to be relatives.Section 4(d) of the Special Marriage Act provides that a marriage between two people may be solemnized if, inter alia, "the parties are not within the degrees of prohibited relationship."Another proviso is appended to it: If a tradition controlling at least one of the parties permits a marriage between them, the marriage may be solemnized regardless of whether the parties are within the range of prohibited relationships.The relatives who fall under the "prohibited degrees of relationship" from the perspectives of the husband and wife, respectively, are then listed in Schedule I of the Act.They include siblings, nephews, nieces, aunts, uncles, and matrilineal and patrilineal parallel and cross cousins.They also include spouses of the same-sex lineal ascendants and descendants.While it approaches the issue of exogamy a little differently, the Hindu Marriage Act's forbidden relationship framework corresponds with that of the Special Marriage Act to a great extent.This system is broadened by the Hindu Marriage Act to allow more affines, such as "the wife of the brother or of the father's brother or of the mother's brother or of the grandfather or grandmother of the other."Second, the Act forbids the union of people who are sapindas of one another, unless the customs or usage that govern each of them allow it.'Thus, these legislations prohibited the customary practices of cross-cousin and uncleniece marriages that were prevalent in South India, which regained validity only after an amendment to the clause of 'prohibited relationship' in 1963, saving the Dravidian marriages on the grounds of 'custom.'

The Politics of Violence Against Women
Violence against women must, therefore, be viewed in the context of a South Asian culture in transition, which has committed to the values of equality and justice but is unable to persuade the male population and the dominant socioeconomic segments to give up their long-held rights and control over the weaker segments and women.As previously powerless groups try to assert their newly acquired rights, there is often a cultural lag and even a reaction in many areas of life, including marital traditions, occupations, and standards of everyday social behavior.As a result, societal tensions are both a symptom of and a cause of violence.on both a mental and physical level and unequal access to food and healthcare.Sexual abuse is quite frequent and occurs at all levels.While young girls can be brutally murdered in the name of family honour, female foeticide is not considered a dishonorable act.This demographic disparity is brought on by high female mortality rates brought on by sex-selective abortion, female infanticide (the intentional death of female children shortly after birth), and systematic and frequently fatal disregard for the nutritional and health needs of girls.The discriminatory and violent practice of female infanticide due to the subordinate status of women has long existed in the society of South Asia but has acquired new dimensions in the present conditions when certain sex is being "civilizedly" eliminated using modern technology and the paradigm of "development," and this is done under the guise of "democratic choice," leading not only to the prebirth killing of millions of girl children but a terrible imbalance in the male-female ratio leading to large scale increase in various forms of violence and crimes and erosion of human values at the level of interpersonal relationships.As revealed by the Census figures 2011, the situation is particularly alarming in India's high per capita income states, such as Haryana and Punjab.However, the problem has become a pan-Indian phenomenon, according to Chunkath, Athreya, and Bandewar.Purewal feels that the son preference was widespread, cutting across caste and class barriers in North India.[22] Aruna Goel and her co-authors locate the problem in the Social Structure and myriad forms of violence the culture legitimates against women.The most monstrous 'crime of honour' occurs when young girls fall in love and marry according to their own choice.The left-wing women's organization, All-India Democratic Women's Association, has waged a constant struggle in North India against such atrocities.According to Sangwan, there are no homogenous cultural practices as far as marriage is concerned.While in certain areas and among certain castes, marriage within the village and intra-gotra marriage are not prohibited, in some other regions and among some castes, such marriages are taboo and treated as incestuous in nature.Although, the Hindu Marriage Act 1955 allows marriages within the same gotra or clan membership and prohibits marriage between certain lineages of generations from paternal and maternal sides, most of the cases where girl and boy were declared brother and sister even after marriage by the khap-panchayats( assembly of male adults of the clan or clans) and where they were brutally murdered with the connivance of such institution, there was no case where such a social custom was breached.[23] Another main aspect of killing in the name of honour is that mostly intercaste marriages, especially of a lower-caste boy to an upper-caste girl, is seen as the most dishonorable act, and it would invite social retribution of powerful upper-caste groups.The caste problem has been, to a large degree, an extension of women's question in India.Most of the issues that captivated the attention of social reformers, such as widow burning, restrictions on widow remarriage, and debates surrounding the legal age of consent, had their roots in caste customs and were tied to caste position.In other words, caste has a gendered makeup, and the most exceptional effects of caste have been articulated through gender.Thus, many conceptual arguments under the rubric of the discourse on 'honour-killing', concerning the female body and sexuality, kinship and tribal norms, and conjugal familial relationship are at stake.The State and the progressive intelligentsia generally perceive it as a play of tradition and modernity.Bourdieu analyzed the notion of honour in Kabyle society, and he pointed out that honour was not a part of the cultural practice but part of a constellation of interpersonal exchange.So naturally, there will always be multiple codes of honour, operating at distinctive levels.The stain on family is depicted as a stain on community, and women is supposed to be the carrier of tradition and the authentic culture of the community, become the easy victim of 'honour crimes'.While the modernization project wants educated women to assume public roles as teachers, lawyers, doctors, engineers, and factory workers, they are also supposed to be transmitters of culture and creators of imagination of a collective identity.The state, through the legislation, tried to transform the tribal/kinship-based notion of patriarchy into modern bourgeois patriarchy, but the project has been incomplete, ambivalent as the continuation of the 'crime of honour' shows.The discriminatory and violent practice of female infanticide due to the subordinate status of women has long existed in our society but has acquired new dimensions in the present conditions when the paradigm of "development" and new technology is exploited for the 'civilized' eradication of a specific sex, and that too under the guise of 'democratic choice' leading not only to the pre-birth killing of millions of girl children but a terrible imbalance in the male-female ratio leading to large scale increase in various forms of violence and crimes and erosion of human values at the level of interpersonal relationships.As revealed by the Census figures of 2011, the situation is particularly alarming in the high per capita income states of Haryana and Panjab and the like, with Haryana sharing the dubious distinction of the lowest adult sex ratio in the whole country and its Jhajjar district having the worst adult and child sex ratios [24].The whole situation puts a big question mark on the trajectory of growth and economic development that is blindly being followed today in total oblivion of all socio-cultural and human indicators of wholesome growth.The steep fall in the child sex ratio -the lowest since independence-is, at the same time, a crude condemnation of the central and state governments' actions and an examination of their absolute failure to carry out the PCPNDT Act strictly and effectively.
,  responsible for formulating and enforcing laws and policies that prohibit honour-based violence.This includes ensuring that legal frameworks are in place to hold perpetrators accountable.Police and law enforcement agencies play a crucial role in responding to incidents of honour-based violence.They must be trained to handle these cases sensitively and effectively.Government agencies often provide or fund services like shelters, counseling, legal aid, and healthcare for victims.NGOs specializing in women's rights and gender-based violence often offer direct services to victims, such as shelters, counseling, and legal assistance.They may also provide advocacy and support for policy change.Some Key Mitigation Strategies are.

Legal Reforms and Enforcement
Strengthen and enforce laws against honour-based violence, holding perpetrators accountable.This involves reviewing existing laws to identify gaps and weaknesses and amending or creating new legislation specifically addressing honour-based violence.Law enforcement agencies must be trained to investigate and prosecute cases effectively, and penalties for perpetrators should be commensurate with the severity of the crime.Provide legal support and protection for victims, including restraining orders and safe houses.Victims of honour-based violence need legal assistance to navigate the legal system and obtain protective measures like restraining orders.Safe houses or shelters offer a secure environment for victims to seek refuge, receive support, and plan for their future without fear of further harm.

Awareness and Education
Promote education and awareness programs in schools, communities, and religious institutions to challenge harmful norms and beliefs surrounding honour.These programs aim to challenge traditional beliefs that condone violence in the name of honour.They educate individuals about healthy relationships, consent, and gender equality.Conduct training for law enforcement, healthcare providers, and social workers on recognizing and responding to honour-based violence.Training equips professionals with the knowledge and skills needed to identify signs of honour-based violence, provide appropriate support, and ensure the safety of victims.

Cultural Sensitivity and Competency
Train professionals in culturally sensitive approaches to ensure that interventions respect the diversity of experiences and perspectives within communities.This involves educating professionals about the cultural contexts in which honour-based violence occurs.It ensures that interventions are respectful and effective, considering specific cultural nuances.

Empowerment and Economic Independence
Empowerment and economic independence provide resources and support for women to achieve financial freedom, which can help them escape abusive situations.This involves offering financial resources, job training, and support to help women gain economic independence, which can reduce their dependence on abusive family members.It offers skills training, education, and job opportunities to improve economic prospects.Providing education and skill development opportunities empowers women to pursue careers and become financially self-sufficient.

Access to Support Services
Support services are given by establishing fund shelters, crisis hotlines, counseling, and legal assistance services for victims of honour-based violence.These services provide immediate help and a safe space for victims to seek refuge, counseling, and legal advice.It also ensures that services are culturally appropriate and available in multiple languages.Support services must be accessible and sensitive to the diverse cultural backgrounds of victims.

Community Engagement and Mobilization
Encouraging community leaders, religious figures, and influencers to denounce honour-based violence and promote gender equality publicly can be one of the important measures to deal with the problem.Community leaders have significant influence and can play a pivotal role in changing societal attitudes towards honour-based violence.The problem can also be checked by fostering community dialogue to challenge harmful traditions and beliefs.Open discussions within communities can help challenge and change harmful norms and beliefs, fostering a more supportive environment for victims.

Media Influence
Encouraging responsible media reporting to avoid sensationalizing or legitimizing honour-based violence can also become a strong weapon in fighting the problem.Responsible reporting involves presenting information in a way that does not sensationalize or glamorize the violence.It helps to convey the seriousness and societal impact of honour-, 01114 (2024) BIO Web of Conferences https://doi.org/10.1051/bioconf/2024860111486 RTBS-2023 based violence accurately.Promoting positive portrayals of women and challenging stereotypes that contribute to a culture of violence, media can play an important role in changing societal attitudes by depicting women in diverse and empowering roles and by challenging stereotypes that contribute to a culture that tolerates violence.

International Collaboration
Work with international organizations, NGOs, and neighboring countries to share best practices, resources, and support for victims Government can collaborate with other countries and organizations to exchange knowledge, expertise, and resources to address honour-based violence on a global scale.

Early Intervention and Prevention
Implementing educational programs in schools to teach healthy relationships, consent, and gender equality can be a great measure to fight the problem.Early intervention involves educating young people about healthy relationships, consent, and gender equality, which can help prevent future incidents of honour-based violence.We need to encourage bystander intervention to prevent violence before it escalates.Bystander intervention empowers individuals to step in and prevent or interrupt situations of violence.This can be a powerful tool in stopping honour-based violence before it escalates.

Data Collection and Research
Gathering comprehensive data on honour-based violence to understand better its prevalence, trends, and underlying causes can prove fruitful.Collecting accurate and detailed data is crucial for understanding the scope and nature of honour-based violence, which informs policy and intervention strategies.Research provides evidence-based insights into effective strategies for preventing and addressing honour-based violence.This helps policymakers make informed decisions.

Long-term Cultural Change
Promoting a shift in cultural norms toward respecting individual autonomy, gender equality, and human rights will bring long-term cultural change, challenging and transforming deeply ingrained norms that perpetuate violence toward a culture that values autonomy, equality, and human rights.Engaging men and boys as allies in the fight against honour-based violence is essential in creating a culture that rejects violence and promotes healthy relationships.These strategies, when implemented collectively, work together to create a comprehensive and effective approach to combating honour-based violence against women.

Framework for detection of violence against women
Usually, women are quite reluctant to express violence for several reasons.But in this era of technological advancement, where women have started using mobile phones augmented with the power of AI, a solution can be proposed to help them out.A mobile app-based solution can be designed where a woman feeling a threat can sign up and place their details over the portal.This portal will be linked with an AI-based server that will guide the user in different capacities.The flow can be as follows as shown in Figure 1  A major challenge for these kinds of servers is that criminals can misuse them to protect themselves.The AI-enabled machine should be efficient enough to differentiate between authentic and fake cases.If it is a genuine case, then the severity level of the case is calculated.Based on severity level, action based on counseling and suggestions could be fed to the user.

Fig 1
Fig 1 Flowchart for detection of violence against women.

Honour and Shame
The violence starts at pre-birth, and sex-selective abortion and battering during pregnancy are examples.Girls suffer as infants through female infanticide, maltreatment As per the Census, 2011, the child sex ratio (0-6 years) has declined from 927 females per thousand males in 2001 to 919 females per thousand males in 2011.State/UTs-wise details are given in Table1below.

Table 1
Census of India 2011 [Press Information Bureau Government of India Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, dated 11 February 2014]

3 Mitigation related to the issue
Addressing the issues of honour-based violence against women requires a multi-faceted approach that involves various stakeholders, including government agencies, NGOs, communities, and individuals.Government agencies are :