Palestine shares with its Arab counterparts a strong ideology of male
superiority emphasizing dominance, physical strength and male honour.
Concepts of male honour and entitlements are culturally accepted to the
extent that sexual violence goes unpunished because the integrity of male
honour hinges on female body and sexual behaviour. The rape of a female
or even suspicion of illegal sexual or emotional relationships stains the
honour of the husband and or family, including in cases where the
perpetrator is a family member. In all cases the female victim will likely
face punishment as a way to re-purify and restore the family’s honour.
Punishment may include her marriage to the perpetrator (rapist), and or
varying degrees of violence against her, including her murder known as:
honour killing.
Within this context honour killing is a rite of purification. Failing to bleed
on the wedding night is a sign of impurity that can lead to honour killing
to erase the shame of not bleeding to account for the girl or women’s
virginity. The tribal group in the Arab social system view failure to bleed as
a stain that needs to be washed in blood. The notion of purity and
impurity is closely linked to this ritual that is rooted in the tribal behaviour
and institution. To sacrifice a woman stained by rape or adultery is to give
back to the tribe (family) its purity, therefore its honour. To re-establish
the purity order in the tribe patriarchal lineage, men reaffirm their control
over women and their conformity to the doctrine of patriarchy.