The offenses include domestic violence, rape, incest, child abuse and violent responses to so-called honor crimes, like adultery, that embarrass the clan, family or community.

There have been 49 known "honor crimes," most involving female victims, during the past nine years - 16 in Berlin alone.

At least 25 women are killed each year in such "honor crimes."

In May 2010, the government decreed amendments to the penal code to ensure that "honor" crimes receive the full penalty of the law.

Both women were killed at the hands of men or as victims of honor crime.

Syrian law specifically provides for reduced or commuted sentences in "honor crimes", which involve violent assaults by a direct male relative against a female.

No official statistics were kept on honor crimes, but there were scattered reports of them in the local media.

The incidence of honor crimes is believed to be considerably higher in rural areas.

This year's topic seems to be honor crimes, and the tendency to blame them on a particular religion, namely Islam.

The group said it would collect thousands of signatures for a petition demanding harsher punishment against mostly male relatives who commit such "honor crimes."