HONOUR KILLING AND GENDER-BASED DOMESTIC VIOLENCE: A CASE STUDY OF QANDEEL BALOCH

Abstract

Qandeel Baloch was a prominent social media star and feminist activist from Pakistan, who was brutally murdered by her brother Mr. Waseem in the name of honour killing. The incident of Qandeel Baloch is a subject of international scrutiny as it shed light on gender disparities, entrenched cultural norms, and social pressures. Honour killing and gender-based domestic violence reflect a negative impact on the country’s image. It is very important to analyze how such events are being portrayed in the foreign press and how people have reacted and shown their feedback in terms of posts/ comments. This research work is focused to analyze the foreign press (The Guardian) online stories/news and readers' posts about the murder case of Qandeel Baloch via content analysis. The documentary selected is "Qandeel - The Guardian". Even numbered 50 posts selected based on “Top Comments” are chosen. The results showed that the majority of posts are favorable as compared to un-favorable and neutral posts. Moreover, the favorable posts pertain to parental support, women supremacy, fatherly support, complimentary support, condemnation, motherly support, and sympathetic statements. A multi-faceted approach to underpin such violence is the need of the hour to cater to honour killing issues in Pakistan which encompass legal reforms, education, awareness, and collective action campaigns at all levels of society to ensure the rights and safety of women across the nation.