Does Cousin Marriage Motivate Honour-Killings?
In the ancient city of Midyat, southeastern Turkey, I met a young Kurdish woman who lived in fear. Beaten at age 17 for walking with her boyfriend, she kept their relationship hidden for seven years, fearing her family’s wrath. Her paternal cousin wanted to marry her, and this right was widely upheld. Refusal was almost impossible - another relative who eloped was killed by her brother at their father’s request.
The UNFPA estimates that 5000 women are killed every year over ‘honour’. In Pakistan last year, the Human Rights Commission recorded 346 honour crimes. Mediterranean Greece and Albania also used to be cultures of honour.
Why would close relatives harm their own kin, against their genetic interests? To resolve this evolutionary puzzle, Olympia Campbell, Cecilia Padilla-Iglesias, Grégory Fiorio, and Ruth Mace draw on both genetic and survey data to explore the relationship between cousin marriage and honour killings.
Let me discuss their analysis, and why this matters for 21st century Britain.
