The news coverage of honour killings in Canadian newspapers

Abstract

The issue of honour killings has become a prominent topic of discussion in the Western discourse of violence against immigrant women. In Canada, particularly, the recent high-profile cases of honour killings have drawn increased attention from the media, academics and the public. The prevalent discussion links these murders to the broader issues of immigration, multiculturalism, and violence against immigrant women. In this thesis, I examine the nature of honour killings, their components, and the discourse of honour killings in its Canadian context. In doing so, I conduct a textual analysis of the representation of three recent honour killings in two major Canadian newspapers; The Toronto Star and The Globe and Mail. Results suggest that honour killings touched a nerve in Canadian media leading to the use of culturalist approaches to understand and represent these killings. This culturalist approach to the debate created serious obstacles for clarifying or explaining this form of violence against women. It further hindered any constructive public debate about ending these killings. The consequences of the culturalist approach to honour killings as well as recommendations for future research and theoretical developments in this area of violence against women are suggested.