Every single day girls and women in the UK are locked up, threatened, beaten and forced into marriage by their families in the name of so-called ‘honour’. Some are mutilated, or even murdered.
The government does not collect data on how many people are affected by ‘honour’ based violence in this country. In 2010 IKWRO undertook research and found that 2823 incidents were reported to police across the country in 2010. It is likely that many more went unreported.
The government does not have a national strategy to deal with the issue of “honour” based violence. While awareness of the problem has increased in recent years many police officers, teachers, social workers and other professionals still don’t really understand it, and some government bodies and local authorities aren’t taking the issue seriously enough. As a result charities like IKWRO have to pick up the pieces when girls and women don’t get the help they need.
Our campaign is calling on the government to develop a national “honour” based violence strategy in order to fill the gaps and ensure that all girls and women get the help they need.
Read articles from our blog on “honour” based violence.
