Honour Based Violence (including Female Genital Mutilation and Forced Marriage)
The CPS and ACPO have a common definition of honour based violence:
"Honour based violence is a crime or incident, which has or may have been committed to protect or defend the honour of the family and/or community.'
Honour Based Violence is a fundamental abuse of Human Rights. There is no honour in the commission of murder, rape, kidnap and the many other acts, behaviour and conduct which make up violence in the name of so-called honour. It is a collection of practices, which are used to control behaviour within families or other social groups to protect perceived cultural and religious beliefs and/or honour. Such violence can occur when perpetrators perceive that a relative has shamed the family and / or community by breaking their honour code.
Women are predominantly (but not exclusively) the victims of honour based violence, which is used to assert male power in order to control female autonomy and sexuality. Honour Based Violence can be distinguished from other forms of violence, as it is often committed with some degree of approval and/or collusion from family and / or community members.
Examples may include murder, un-explained death (suicide), fear of or actual forced marriage, controlling sexual activity, domestic abuse (including psychological, physical, sexual, financial or emotional abuse), child abuse, rape, kidnapping, false imprisonment, threats to kill, assault, harassment, forced abortion. Gwent Police recognise that many different communities can be impacted upon by honour based violence, and that it is not confined to any particular culture or community.
Please note that due to the low numbers of reported Honour Based Violence incidents, we have not published our available data as it may compromise anonymity.
Key Facts:
- Gwent Police recorded a very low number of honour based violence incidents and crimes during 2010/11, supporting the suggestion that it is hugely under reported, and often not recognised by Police forces.
- Approximately 66,000 women in England and Wales have had their genitals mutilated (FORWARD)
- In 2010 there were 1735 instances where the Government's Forced Marriage Unit gave advice or support related to a possible forced marriage
- Of those 17453 occasions, there were 70 instances involving those with disabilities (50 with learning disabilities, 17 with physical disabilities and 3 with both), and 36 instances involving victims who identified themselves as LGBT. Of the 1735 instances, 86 per cent were female and 14 per cent male
- It is estimated that approximately 100-140 million African women have undergone FGM worldwide
- The United Nations estimates that every year 5,000 women are victims of honour-killings internationally
- In 2009, the Government's forced marriage unit provided direct support to victims in the UK and overseas in 377 cases
Useful Links:
Crimes of the Community, Honour Based Violence in the UK (Centre for Social Cohesion)
Government's Multi-Agency Guidelines on Female Genital Mutilation
Government's Multi-Agency Guidelines on Forced Marriage
Government's Multi-Agency Guidelines on Forced Marriage and Learning Disabilities
