Editing Crime of passion (section)

==Advocacy==
In recent decades, feminists and women's rights organizations have worked to change laws and social norms which tolerate crimes of passion against women. [[UN Women]] has urged states to review legal defenses of passion and provocation, and other similar laws, to ensure that such laws do not lead to impunity in regard to [[violence against women]], stating that "laws should clearly state that these defenses do not include or apply to crimes of "honour", [[adultery]], or [[domestic violence|domestic assault]] or murder."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.endvawnow.org/en/articles/738-decriminalization-of-adultery-and-defenses.html%29|title=Decriminalization of adultery and defenses|access-date=2014-05-27|archive-date=2016-01-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160108112544/http://www.endvawnow.org/en/articles/738-decriminalization-of-adultery-and-defenses.html%29|url-status=live}}</ref>

The [[Council of Europe]] Recommendation Rec(2002)5 of the Committee of Ministers to member states on the protection of women against violence<ref>{{cite web|url=https://wcd.coe.int/ViewDoc.jsp?id=280915&Site=CM&BackColorInternet=C3C3C3&BackColorIntranet=EDB021&BackColorLogged=F5D383|title=Committee of Ministers - on the protection of women against violence|author=<nowiki>Council of Europe, Committee of Ministers, Plenary</nowiki>|access-date=2015-03-01|archive-date=2016-03-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304052933/https://wcd.coe.int/ViewDoc.jsp?id=280915&Site=CM&BackColorInternet=C3C3C3&BackColorIntranet=EDB021&BackColorLogged=F5D383|url-status=live}}</ref> states that member states should "preclude adultery as an excuse for violence within the family".{{citation needed|date=October 2024}}

There are differences between crimes of passion (which are generally impulsive and committed by and against both genders) and honour killings, as "while crimes of passion may be seen as somewhat premeditated to a certain extent, honour killings are usually deliberate, well planned and premeditated acts when a person kills a female relative ostensibly to uphold his honour."<ref name="justice.gc.ca"/> However, Widney Brown, advocacy director for [[Human Rights Watch]], argued that "crimes of passion have a similar dynamic in that the women are killed by male family members and the crimes are perceived as excusable or understandable". Some human rights advocates say that the crimes of passion in [[Latin America]] are treated leniently.<ref name="news.nationalgeographic.com">{{cite web|url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/02/0212_020212_honorkilling.html|title=Thousands of Women Killed for Family "Honor"|access-date=2014-05-27|archive-date=2015-09-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150905122357/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/02/0212_020212_honorkilling.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> Crimes of passion and honor killings often have similar triggers, particularly related to the sexual behavior (real or imaginary) of the victim, such as [[extramarital sex]], [[premarital sex]] or [[homosexuality]]; and there have been accusations that the Western media creates artificial differentiation between the 'foreign' forms of domestic violence, such as the honor killings that are most prevalent in the Middle East and South Asia, and the crimes of passion that are relatively common in North America, Europe and Latin America.<ref name="news.nationalgeographic.com"/><ref>{{Cite web |last=Shier |first=Allie |last2=Shor |first2=Eran |year=2015 |title="Shades of foreign evil": "honour killings" and "family murders" in the Canadian press |url=https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/46172523.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210727202552/https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/46172523.pdf |archive-date=2021-07-27 |access-date=2021-11-15 |website=[[Violence Against Women (journal)|Violence Against Women]] |language=en}}</ref>

The [[Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence]], the first legally binding international document on domestic violence, states at Article 42:<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.conventions.coe.int/Treaty/EN/Treaties/Html/210.htm|title=Council of Europe – Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (CETS No. 210)|access-date=20 April 2015|archive-date=16 February 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150216041736/http://www.conventions.coe.int/Treaty/EN/Treaties/Html/210.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>

{{Blockquote|Article 42 – Unacceptable justifications for crimes, including crimes committed in the name of so-called honor

1. Parties shall take the necessary legislative or other measures to ensure that, in criminal proceedings initiated following the commission of any of the acts of violence covered by the scope of this Convention, culture, custom, religion, tradition, or so-called honor shall not be regarded as justification for such acts. This covers, in particular, claims that the victim has transgressed cultural, religious, social, or traditional norms or customs of appropriate behavior.

2. Parties shall take the necessary legislative or other measures to ensure that incitement by any person of a child to commit any of the acts referred to in paragraph 1 shall not diminish the criminal liability of that person for the acts committed.
}}

In recent years, advocacy and legal reform has focused on several areas of laws:
*repealing provisions which explicitly provided for mitigation or acquittal in crimes of passion (most such provisions focused on husbands killing wives due to adultery and fathers killing daughters due to premarital sex, e.g. such a law existed in Italy until 1981 - see below)
*reforming [[Self-defense|self defense]] laws by ensuring that vague wording does not lead to broad interpretation of the concept, such as the self-defense of [[family honor]] or reputation; according to [[UNWOMEN]], "Drafters should scrutinize self-defense provisions for vagueness that leaves open to interpretation whether the harm includes injury to "honour". Wording such as "dangerous or unjust act" are vague and leave open to judicial discretion whether such self-defense provisions apply to "honour" crimes".<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.endvawnow.org/en/articles/738-decriminalization-of-adultery-and-defenses.html%29 |title=Decriminalization of adultery and defenses |access-date=2021-11-19 |archive-date=2021-11-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211120010148/https://www.endvawnow.org/en/articles/738-decriminalization-of-adultery-and-defenses.html) |url-status=live }}</ref>
*reforming [[insanity defense|insanity]] related defenses, such as insanity, temporary insanity, [[irresistible impulse]], [[diminished responsibility]] and other similar defenses to ensure that such defenses refer to genuine psychiatric medical conditions or genuine inability to comprehend due to objective factors (such as inhaling toxic fumes) and are not used as a [[legal fiction]] meant to justify domestic murders.<ref>https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=PEN&sectionNum=25 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211119220129/https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=PEN&sectionNum=25 |date=2021-11-19 }}.</ref>
*reforming the [[Provocation (legal)|provocation]] defense, particularly with regard to the triggers that can be claimed. For example, Canada has modified its provocation law in 2015, restricting its use, such that the provocative behavior of the victim must constitute a criminal offense punishable by 5 or more years (rather than just "insult").<ref>{{cite web|url=http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/c-46/page-124.html#docCont|title=Consolidated federal laws of canada, Criminal Code|first=Legislative Services|last=Branch|website=laws-lois.justice.gc.ca|date=27 August 2021|access-date=28 November 2018|archive-date=23 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181023101910/https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/C-46/page-124.html#docCont|url-status=live}}</ref>