Honor Crimes in Siham Alenezi’s Saliha’s Execution

This research paper examines honor crimes that prevail in patriarchal societies. The researcher conducts a feminist analysis on Siham Alenezi’s novel, Saliha’s Execution (2022), which is inspired by real events in a Saudi town. It shows that the main female characters in this novel – Munira, Saliha, and Sita – are persecuted by the tyrannical norms and traditions of the patriarchal system in which they live. Furthermore, the study sheds light on the various multilayered pressures women experience that might lead to their murder at the hands of their narrow-minded/ extremist relatives, as in the case of Munira’s murder in the novel under study. Thus, the present paper comes to the conclusion that many women who lose their lives under the so-called honor crimes are innocent and honorable women like Munira. In this case, the victimized women are perceived as representations of honor to be protected and controlled rather than human beings. As Loza (2022) demonstrates, honor-based crimes inflict long-lasting trauma on entire communities.