\n<\/p>\n
Ministers are introducing a clearer legal definition of \u201chonour\u201d-based abuse in an attempt to catch more perpetrators and protect women and girls from violence and coercion.<\/p>\n
The law change is intended to improve how public services respond to \u201chonour\u201d-based abuse in England and Wales, and forms part of Labour\u2019s plan for change, which includes a pledge to halve violence against women and girls.<\/p>\n
Teachers, police officers, social workers and healthcare workers will receive training to spot the signs of \u201chonour\u201d-based abuse and better support victims, while an awareness-raising campaign will encourage victims to come forward.<\/p>\n
Yvette Cooper, the home secretary, said: \u201cAll forms of \u2018honour\u2019-based abuse are devastating crimes that can shatter lives. There is no \u2018honour\u2019 in them. For too long, these offences have often been misunderstood by professionals, resulting in victims not getting the support they deserve.<\/p>\n
\u201cToday we are announcing measures to put an end to this and shining a light on this debilitating abuse. This marks a crucial step in this government\u2019s landmark mission to halve violence against women and girls within a decade.\u201d<\/p>\n
As part of the changes, the national centre for violence against women and girls and public protection is working with the police to improve how officers assess the risks posed by \u201chonour\u201d-based abuse offenders. The Home Office will also pilot a study looking at how widespread this crime is.<\/p>\n
Emma James, the national policing lead for \u201chonour\u201d-based abuse, said it was a \u201ccomplex crime\u201d that often happened within community or family networks, making it difficult for victims to speak out for fear of further threats, violence and isolation.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s why it\u2019s so important that policing works closely with other agencies to identify abuse and protect victims at the earliest opportunity,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Recent statistics showed that 2,755 offences related to \u201chonour\u201d-based abuse were recorded by the police in England and Wales, including killings, female genital mutilation and forced marriage. Figures published last year found that the number of \u201chonour\u201d-based abuse offences recorded by English police forces had increased by more than 60% in two years, thought to be due to more victims coming forward, as well as political polarisation.<\/p>\n
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Privacy Notice: <\/strong>Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.<\/span><\/p>\n after newsletter promotion<\/p>\n Earlier this year, the joint Home Office and Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office forced marriage unit launched a new plan to improve support to victims of forced marriage and the professionals who help them.<\/p>\n The measures have been backed by Karma Nirvana, which the government funds to run the national HBA helpline, and 22 other organisations. Natasha Rattu, the charity\u2019s executive director, hailed the move as a \u201clandmark moment\u201d after years of campaigning for a statutory definition.<\/p>\n \u201cThis step will mean victims are no longer overlooked but seen, heard and supported, while professionals are better equipped to act,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Payzee Mahmod, a campaigner who is a survivor of child marriage and \u201chonour\u201d-based abuse, and whose sister, Banaz, died in an \u201chonour\u201d-based killing, added: \u201cI know how vital it is that professionals from the police to social workers and teachers have the clarity and tools they need to recognise this abuse and act quickly to protect those at risk. This step represents meaningful progress towards better safeguarding and ensuring that survivors are properly seen, heard and supported,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Yasmin Javed, whose daughter Fawziyah Javed was pushed off Arthur\u2019s Seat in Edinburgh, Scotland by her husband after learning she was pregnant and had planned to leave the marriage, said she was \u201cpleased\u201d the government had listened to calls from campaigners. \u201cI hope that this will help many more people affected by HBA and ensure that the multiple perpetrators of this abuse are properly recognised and addressed,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Ministers are introducing a clearer legal definition of \u201chonour\u201d-based abuse in an attempt to catch more perpetrators and protect women and girls from violence and coercion. The law change is intended to improve how public services respond to \u201chonour\u201d-based abuse in England and Wales, and forms part of Labour\u2019s plan for change, which includes a<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17822,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[55],"tags":[682,10802,304,6138,1386,10804,1575,10803,1388,418],"class_list":{"0":"post-17821","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-social-issues","8":"tag-abuse","9":"tag-clarify","10":"tag-cut","11":"tag-definition","12":"tag-domestic","13":"tag-drive","14":"tag-girls","15":"tag-honourbased","16":"tag-violence","17":"tag-women"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17821","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=17821"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17821\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/17822"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=17821"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=17821"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=17821"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}