The murders of Pela Atroshi, Sara Abed Ali and Fadime Sahindal, started a debate concerning the underlying motives of honour related violence. This paper aimed to describe and explain in what way honour related violence is perceived in publications by academics, public authorities and voluntary organisations to name a few. Different types of literature were thematically analysed as well as analysed using a model by Lorentzon. The scope of this paper was narrowed down to Swedish conditions and excluded men as victims of honour related crimes.

The conclusion suggests a definition of honour related violence as a result of general patriarchy with different features. For example, men’s honour is connected to women’s behaviour and retaining of virginity. The only way to restore a lost honour is to eliminate the woman physically or socially.

The use of postcolonial theories in analyzing the definition resulted in an understanding of honour related violence perceived as something different from Swedish culture.