ABSTRACT
Honor related violence has been defined as a serious problem within non-western communities, especially but not exclusively, concerning people in the Middle East and adjacent areas. A recurring problem in the discourse are the various and vague definitions of honor and honor related violence. Many argue that honor is related to a man’s status in his community: by being chaste and obedient women enhance the man’s honor and contribute to their power; men whose womenfolk are not chaste lose their honor. The research on stigma, ostracism and rejection claims universal validity. All humans are capable of experiencing the same feelings and emotions and on a deeper level can be triggered in similar ways. If a situation of dishonor equals a situation of stigmatization and related notions such as social death, then its counterpart, honor, must be connected to opposite notions, such as inclusion and acceptance.
