This article examines the subjective experiences of South Asian women in the United Kingdom who have suffered domestic violence, and identifies some of the risk factors for domestic violence within this community. The study, based on in-depth interviews with 18 Asian women, describes and analyses several aspects of domestic violence in relation to South Asian women. The guiding research questions are: how do Asian women interpret their experiences of domestic violence, and to whom do they report it? This article presents data that suggest that abusive acts against Asian women arise out of a multiplicity of cultural circumstances influenced by power relations. Abusive acts are not therefore limited to a single characteristic, such as physical abuse, or to a particular relationship. Recurrent themes emerge from the women's accounts, revealing their definitions of domestic violence and showing how some continue to play down the levels of violence they experience.The article voices the concerns of and hardships experienced by victims and survivors of domestic violence, in their own words. Finally, the article offers an analysis of the ways in which notions of honour and shame are used both as tools to constrain women's self-determination and independence, and as catalysts for domestic violence when these notions of family and community are challenged by women.

On 3 August 2012, Shafilea Ahmed's parents were convicted of her murder, nine years after the brutal 'honour' killing. The case offers important insights into how 'honour'based violence might be tackled without constructing non-Western cultures as inherently uncivilised. Critiquing the framing devices that structure British debates about 'honour'based violence demonstrates the prevalence of Orientalist tropes, revealing the need for new ways of thinking about culture that do not reify it or treat it as a singular entity that can only be tackled in its entirety; instead, it is important to recognise that cultures consist of multiple, intersecting signifying practices that are continually 'creolising'. Thus, rather than talking purely about culture, debates on 'honour'-based violence should explore the intersection of culture with gender and other axes of differentiation and inequality.

Crimes of honor are characterized by violence against women (VAW) and are consequently not gender neutral. This article not only examines the relationship between gender and violence in communities where honor crimes are committed, focusing on the status of women in South Asian communities, but also considers other contexts in which these crimes are practiced. Criminal justice responses to the issue over the last 10 years are then examined, leading to an analysis of a round-table discussion intended to consider approaches to the issue. The viability of criminalization is called into question because the official response to these crimes is often insensitive to women’s cultural circumstances. Recommendations are made to help reduce the numbers of these crimes.

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