Police accused of not taking honour-based abuse seriously as figures reveal 64% fall in recorded offences

‘Victims need to feel if they come forward they will be understood,’ charity says

Honour-based abuse includes forced marriage, which sees girls taken abroad to be married off to strangers, coercive control, female genital mutilation (FGM), assault, threats to kill, attempted murder, and murder

Police have been accused of not taking honour-based abuse seriously as new figures reveal a 64 per cent fall in the number of offences recorded.

New data supplied by forces to the Home Office shows there were only 2,024 offences flagged as being honour-based abuse in 2019/20, a dramatic decrease from the 5,595 honour related offences back in 2015.

Honour-based abuse includes forced marriage, which sees girls or women taken abroad to be married off to strangers, coercive control, and female genital mutilation (FGM), as well as assault, threats to kill, attempted murder, and murder.

Natasha Rattu, director of Karma Nirvana, a national charity supporting victims of honour-based abuse, told The Independent the new figures were “hugely worrying” as they contradict her charity’s own data on how widespread such crimes are.

Ms Rattu, whose charity runs a national helpline, said: “When a victim presents to police, if police identify the abuse is honour related or motivated, they will flag it on their system.

“But this is now happening less. It is not that honour-based abuse is occurring less. We are seeing a year on year increase in honour-based abuse in reports to the national honour abuse helpline which you would hope would be reflected in reports to police.

“There are multiple reasons why it is not recorded. There is not enough training, also issues with police thinking 'this doesn’t affect me' or their fears around being culturally insensitive, othering victims, and not understanding honour-based abuse is a form of domestic abuse. Victims need to feel if they come forward they will be understood.”

Ms Rattu said the newly released figures show a lack of awareness and confidence among police to both identify and appropriately record honour-based abuse.

A dearth of government and police leadership on the issue means it does not “trickle down to the frontline”, she suggested.

“It undermines honour-based abuse victim’s trust and confidence to come forward to police,” Ms Rattu added. “It sends a message that tackling honour-based abuse is not a government priority. It emphasises our call for a re-inspection of the police. We have called for this twice recently. We asked in October and were turned down.”

Dame Vera Baird QC, victims’ commissioner for England and Wales, told The Independent honour-based abuse usually takes place behind the “closed doors of family homes” - adding that it takes massive courage for victims to ask for help.

She added: “It is therefore so important they have the confidence to report these crimes to the police, knowing it will be properly recorded and the appropriate action taken. The police data released today on honour-based abuse shows we are doing these victims a disservice.”

The new data detailed in a Home Office report reveals 74 of the honour-based abuse crimes recorded were FGM crimes, 140 involved forced marriage, while the rest were flagged as being honour abuse related.

Many victims may not come forward to tell the police the honour-based abuse they are suffering so the statistics are unlikely to reflect anywhere near the scale of the problem, the report states. It also notes some crimes are not always accurately recorded as being honour-based abuse.

Home Office statisticians are to link up with with police forces to boost the “data quality of this collection”, the report added.

The Independent previously reported that Karma Nirvana had seen a 57 per cent rise in calls during lockdown, with the national charity warning honour-based abuse had been exacerbated by the restrictions on movement due to coronavirus.

Karma Nirvana, which trains the police, NHS and social services on issues of forced marriage and abuse, experienced a 200 per cent surge in calls to its helpline during a six-week period from 16 March to 24 April compared to the same period leading up to it. The organisation had their busiest week of the year at the end of April, with more than 250 calls.

Legislation which made it illegal to force someone into marriage in England and Wales was introduced in 2014 and anyone found guilty of doing so can be imprisoned for up to seven years.

Only three out of 43 police forces were identified as being “prepared” for “protecting people from harm” from honour-based abuse, according to a Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) inspection carried out in 2015.

Commander Ivan Balhatchet, who is National Police Chiefs' Council lead for honour-based abuse, told The Independent: “Honour-based violence is a serious crime which happens within community or family networks, making it extremely difficult for victims to speak out against. 

"In all cases our priority is to safeguard vulnerable victims from this appalling form of abuse, even where a conviction is not possible.

“We welcome the mandatory recording of this dreadful abuse by all police forces through the annual data returns mechanism. However, we acknowledge that these abuses are hugely under-reported."

He urged anyone with information or fears to get in touch with police and said reports would be taken seriously and officers “will do everything” in their power to protect victims from harm.

Safeguarding minister Victoria Atkins said: “So-called ‘honour-based’ abuse devastates lives and destroys families.

“Supporting victims of these horrific crimes and giving them a voice is my absolute priority. That is why we have launched a consultation into violence against women and girls.”

Ms Atkins said she wanted to speak to those impacted by honour-based abuse to support victims, punish perpetrators and help guide the new strategy on violence against women and girls.