Hederns försvarare. Den rättsliga hanteringen av ett hedersmord

Abstract

In this article, we analyse the judicial handling of the murder of Sara in Umeål996. As point of departure, we use the verdicts from the district court and court of appeal, together with the preliminary investigation reports. In our analysis, we see connections between different forms of violence (e g threats, physical violence), violence used by different men (e g brothers, fathers, uncles), directed against different women (e g sisters, mothers). We also analyse the violence in a cultural context of honour. Our analysis of violence in its context and focus on the connections mentioned, points towards a comprehensive perspective. This perspective enables an analysis of the honour killing of Sara, showing how a collective of men, with reference to the honour of the family, use different forms ofviolence against several female relatives. In our interpretation, the perspective used in the judicial handling of the case is quite another. Here, the acts of violence are separated anddemarcated, and through this, disconnected from their context. Because of such fragmentising understanding, the action of the men ends up outside the judicial understanding of violence, and its perpetrators are found not guilty. A comprehensive perspective, however, may correspond to women's experience of violence and look after women's interests.