Honour Based Abuse can take many forms, including forced marriage, virginity testing, enforced abortion, female genital mutilation, as well as physical, sexual and economic abuse and coercive control.
For some communities, the concept of ‘honour’ is prized above the safety and wellbeing of individuals. To compromise a family’s ‘honour’ is to bring dishonour and shame – which can have severe consequences. This is sometimes used to justify emotional abuse, physical abuse, disownment and in some cases even murder.
For some communities, the concept of ‘honour’ is prized above the safety and wellbeing of individuals. To compromise a family’s ‘honour’ is to bring dishonour and shame – which can have severe consequences. This is sometimes used to justify emotional abuse, physical abuse, disownment and in some cases even murder.
There is currently no statutory definition of Honour Based Abuse in England and Wales, but a common definition has been adopted across government and criminal justice agencies: ‘A crime or incident which has, or may have been, committed to protect or defend the honour of the family and / or community’.