In the Name of Honor: A Memoir

by Mukhtar Mai

AAnother book I recently finished is In the Name of Honor by Mukhtar Mai (translated into French by Marie-Therese Cuny and translated from the French to English by Linda Coverdale).

Mukhtar Mai is from Marweela, a small rural village in Pakistan. She was brutally gang-raped by four men of a higher caste (the Mastoi) as an arranged punishment for some past wrong they believe had been done to them by her family.

This form of punishment is not uncommon in the rural areas of Pakistan. In order to gain revenge, men use women as a commodity. They give them as marriage in order to reconcile differences or allow them to be raped as a form of revenge. The rape shames the woman and the family.

Mukhtar’s story has been in the news for years. This is her explanation of what happened after she was raped and thrown out half naked in front of the entire village. (The entire village saw what happened and looked the other way because that is how it’s done.)

Mukhtar thought she would kill herself, which is what most women do in her situation. But her brother and mother would not let that happen. And after a few days, rage grew within her and she decided she wanted justice. Amazingly, she got it.

It wasn’t easy because she couldn’t read or write and she had been taught that women have no value. Throughout the process, she feared for her life. The Mastoi have far more money and clout than her clan. If they were released and she weren’t properly protected, they would likely kill her and hurt her family. At one point, they were found not guilty and released, but there was a huge outcry from the world.

Even though she had been taught that women have no value, something in her told her otherwise. When early on she was given a check as a small form of recompense by the government, she refused it. She didn’t want the money, she wanted justice. But it was insisted she keep it and she used it to build schools in her village so the girls could be educated.

She says the real question her country must ask itself is, if the honor of men lies in women, why do men want to rape or kill that honor?

She currently speaks out not just for all of the women who have endured what she has had to endure, but also, in these cruel times, for those who are the victims of all disaster.