Laiba’s understanding of danger became personal when her best friend was killed. They were school friends. One day, her friend did not come to class. Later, the teacher told them she had died. As a child, Laiba did not understand what had happened.
In patriarchal societies, women are not expected to have views. If they do, those views are dismissed, punished, or silenced. A woman speaking becomes a threat — not because she is wrong, but because she exposes imbalance.
Honor-based violence represents one extreme form of patriarchal control, but the mindset behind it is present long before any tragedy occurs. Patriarchy often decides whose decisions are respected, whose desires are suspicious, and whose autonomy is seen as a threat to family honor. It is less about individual choices and more about the social consequences attached to them.
“Honor killing,” Reda explains, “is when a family harms one of its own because they believe that person damaged the family’s reputation.” In most cases she has seen or heard of, it begins with love — a girl choosing someone for herself, or wanting to marry against her family’s wishes. That choice alone is often enough to be considered disrespect. The punishment, she says, is justified in the name of honor.