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An honor killing or honor killing is generally the murder of a family or clan member, most often females, when they (and maybe the wider community) believe the person to have brought dishonor upon them. A woman can be targeted commonly for: refusing an arranged marriage, seeking a divorce (even from an abusive husband), or committing adultery or fornication (even if she was the victim of sexual assault). These killings result from the perception that defense of family honor justifies killing a woman whose behavior dishonors her family.

The United Nations Population Fund estimates that the annual worldwide total of honor-killing victims may be as high as 5,000 women.

In Japan, suicide is still an honorable way to avoid shame. The ancient Samurai culture is partly at play. The society is not generous to those who are trying to recover from the shame of failure or bankruptcy. Suicide is approved by some, if not glorified. If a big failure will cause a burden for the family, some consider that it is better for the individual to commit suicide than to “lose” honor. However the attitude towards suicide is changing in the recent years. In May 2007, just before facing a bribery probe, the agriculture minister of Japan committed suicide by hanging himself. The governor of Tokyo called the dead man a real samurai, which created a shock and disapproval in the Japanese society.

Honor crimes can also be found in the classical Mediterranean cultures of Greece, Rome, and even among the ancient Hebrews.

A recent phenomenon of Honor suicides occurs in Turkey. There have been many cases when people order or pressure a woman to kill herself; this may be done so that the people avoid penalties for murdering her. A special envoy for the United Nations named Yakin Erturk, who was sent to Turkey to investigate suspicious suicides amongst Kurdish girls, was quoted by The New York Times as saying that some suicides appeared in Kurdish-inhabited regions of Turkey to be “honor killings disguised as a suicide or an accident.”