The killers? The victims' own families. There were 943 "honour killings" of women in Pakistan in 2011, according to the Human Rights Commission of that country.

This is an increase from 791 such murders in 2010. 

And it gets worse:

Around 595 of the women killed in 2011 were accused of having “illicit relations” and 219 of marrying without permission.

Some victims were raped or gang raped before being killed, the Commission said. Most of the women were killed by their brothers and husbands.

And of course, given that the police in Pakistan are reluctant to file charges for domestic violence, it's likely that the true number of "honour killings" is even greater than reported here.

Nadia Khoury is a Contributing Writer for the PropagandistMore >>