Why have some rape victims faced violence from relatives seeking to preserve family honour?

In some patriarchal societies, rape victims may face violence or death from relatives due to the cultural belief that the victim has brought dishonor upon the family name. This practice, often referred to as an honor killing, is rooted in the expectation that male relatives are responsible for maintaining a woman’s "sexual purity" and virginity.1

Because these societies often view women as the property of men, any sexual activity outside of marriage—even when the woman is a victim of rape—is perceived as a stain on the family's prestige. Consequently, the victim is blamed for the perceived loss of honor, and male relatives may commit violence to "restore" that status. These actions are fundamentally unjust, as they punish the victim of a violent crime rather than the perpetrator, often based on subjective perceptions rather than objective truth. In some regions, such violence is exacerbated by legal systems that may allow perpetrators to cite the restoration of family honor as a mitigating factor to receive reduced sentences.12