Combating Patriarchal Violence Against Women – Focusing on Violence in the Name of Honour

The conference on Combating Patriarchal Violence Against Women, Focusing on Violence in the Name of Honour took place in Stockholm 7-8 December 2004. The conference aimed at more effectively addressing such violence, and should be seen as a part of an ongoing process to counteract it. The conference included numerous keynote speeches, discussion groups, and interactive workings (the details of which are all in this publication). Some of the conclusions reached were: 1) the root causes of overall patriarchal violence must be addressed, by combating perceptions of male superiority and female subordination; 2) It can never be accepted that customs, traditions, or religious considerations are invoked to avoid obligations to eradicate violence against women and girls; 3) violence against women must be addressed from a rights based perspective within a broad range of measures to promote gender equality, by empowering women and girls and by raising awareness among men in order to fight men’s silence on patriarchal violence.