Number of cases of honor-related violence continues to rise
The number of cases involving honor-related violence increased by 8 percent last year, Wilfred Janmaat, head of the police’s expertise center on this form of violence, told EenVandaag. She spoke of a considerable increase in incidents aimed at “restoring” a family’s honor.
“Most cases that are reported concern threats, harassment, and assault. That is the bulk of cases. In only a few cases does it concern murder,” Janmaat said. In 2023, three women and one man were killed. The victims are almost always women.
The most recent case to make headlines in the Netherlands was the murder of 18-year-old Ryan al Najjar from Joure, allegedly killed by her father and brothers for behaving “too Western.” Her body was found in the water on the Knardijk in Lelystad in May last year.
According to Janmaat, there is an increase in honor-related violence among people “who have not lived in the Netherlands for very long.” These incidents most often occur among Netherlands residents with a Syrian, Turkish, Moroccan, or Afghan background. “People who have come from a war zone and have experienced a lot of misery. This is a socio-cultural problem, where people cling to the customary law of their country of origin.”
EenVandaag spoke to Sterk Huis, a shelter in Goirle for girls and young women who fell victim to honor-related violence. “It concerns families with a certain expectation pattern,” director Ilona Brekelmans told the program. “If someone steps out of that, such as girls who have sex before marriage or who refuse to marry the person their parents had chosen for them, the family wants to do things to restore the family’s honor. To get that person back on track. And then such a woman can really be in danger.”
According to both Janmaat and Brekelman, honor-related violence requires a different approach than domestic violence because the perpetrator is the whole family instead of one man. With domestic violence “there is usually only one perpetrator and then you can, for example, give the father or brother a restraining order,” Janmaat said. “But in the case of honor-related violence, the honor is borne by the entire family as a collective. So then you can, for example, give the father a restraining order, but then more people pose a danger to the victim. Then it is better for the woman in question to take her into a shelter for her own safety.”
According to Janmaat, there is no easy way to stop this violence. “There must be continued attention to the subject. Education and information are particularly important,” she said. “But I am convinced that change must ultimately come from within, from the community itself. It is a socio-cultural problem, so it really takes time. That will not change overnight.”
