IKWRO’s Diana Nammi has been named on a list of 150 women who shake the world.

The list has been put together by Newsweek and The Daily Beast – convenors of the recent Women in the World Summit - to honour women activists and the growing network of powerful women who support their efforts. 

“They are heads of state and heads of household, angry protesters in the city square and sly iconoclasts in remote villages. With a fiery new energy, women are building schools, starting businesses, fighting corruption, harnessing new technologies and breaking down old prejudices. Whenever a woman or girl gains control of her destiny, the local standard of living goes up and the values of human rights spread.”

Newsweek and The Daily Beast plan to release a new list of inspiring women every year. This year’s list also includes Libyan law student Iman al Obeidi, who risked her life to speak out against rape by Gaddafi’s soldiers, Nigerian writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and actress, director and UN Goodwill Ambassador Angelia Jolie.

“I am delighted with the news that I have been recognised as one of 150 women who shake the world,” said Diana Nammi.  “It has been a long road with many challenges and many heartbreaking stories but ultimately, it has been enormously rewarding because of the changes we have brought about. 

“I would like to thank those who nominated me and those who have supported me.  In fighting against “honour” based violence and for women’s rights and equality I was not alone; thousands of determined women around the world are fighting for the same aim.  I am grateful to IKWRO’s supporters, funders and staff, and to my family who have stood by me every step of the way. 

“I would like to share my joy at this recognition with all of them.  I dedicate this honour to all of the victims who have become survivors and heroines, and to the brave women who have lost their lives for simply claiming their status as a human being with their own rights.”

Diana was invited to New York by Newsweek and The Daily Beast last September to address a Women in the World summit hosted by them.  She took part in a panel which was opened by Oscar winning actress Meryl Streep and anchored by ABC news presenter Cynthia McFadden, speaking about ‘honour’ killing, IKWRO’s Justice for Banaz campaign and what governments and organisations can do to protect women and girls from ‘honour’ based violence and forced marriage.

Hi, my name’s Tara and I work as an events organiser at IKWRO. 

I’m 21 myself, and recently I decided to set up a support group for girls aged 16-25.  IKWRO’s other support groups are focussed on older women, and I wanted to give younger women and girls a space where they could talk to others their own age and discuss issues going on in their day to day lives. The group has been running for six months now but new members can join at any time.

The group meets once a month – usually for about 90 minutes – and discusses issues chosen by the participants.  So far we’ve chosen topics such as self confidence and assertiveness, family problems and domestic violence. The topics are all discussed in a comfortable and friendly way, with each person giving their views and opinions on the subject.

Apart from discussing issues arising in our lives, we also have outings and activity days chosen by the group. So far we’ve gone on an outing to the National Gallery to look at the way that women are portrayed in art, and we’ve had a self defence activity day. The group is a great support but also an excellent way of socialising and making new friends.

Joining this group could benefit if you are interested in discussing issues with other young people instead of adults. You will hear different points of view and group members can help each other solve problems that might be coming up in their lives.

For more information, or if you are interested in joining the group, call me on 020 7920 6460 or email tara.ikwro@gmail.com.  If you want to tell someone else about the group you can download our girls group leaflet and pass it on.

Yours, Tara

Yesterday the Home Office introduced a concession allowing victims of domestic violence who have entered the UK on spousal visas and have no recourse to public funds (NRPFs) to access benefits and public housing while they apply for settlement under what’s known as the ‘domestic violence rule’.

The Campaign to Abolish No Recourse to Public Funds, which involves over 27 leading women’s and human rights groups including IKWRO, welcomes this concession. It represents a major victory for the Campaign, and for the rights of migrant women at risk of gender based violence and exploitation.

However, there are many other vulnerable victims who remain without a safety net. These include women in the UK on other visas, overstayers, and migrant domestic workers, who experience gender based violence or abuse and exploitation at the hands of their employers. Women who have been trafficked into the country are also not adequately protected. These women are still forced to make a stark choice between staying within an abusive relationship – risking their lives and their children’s lives - and leaving, facing destitution and in many cases also deportation. Monitoring data collected by just a handful of agencies found that during the period 24 October – 18 November 2011, 137 women and 74 children with an insecure immigration status were looking for accommodation and support because of abuse . Of these, 52 were accommodated and supported, and 54 were provided with support only. Disturbingly 31 (29%) women and 16 children were unable to access any support, and only 48 (35%) were eligible for Sojourner funding. This means that a shocking 65% of women were ineligible for help from the Sojourner Project, and were either dependant on limited support elsewhere or destitute. Under new proposals, such women will also not be entitled to legal aid to make an application to stay in the country or to appeal against refusal.

The Campaign is also dismayed by the Government’s new proposals on family-related migration, including plans to increase the probationary period for spousal visas from two to five years, and changes to the Immigration Rules which require applicants for settlement under the domestic violence rule to be free of unspent convictions, despite the fact that many victims of abuse act in self-defence or are falsely accused of crime by abusive partners and family members. These changes undermine women’s ability to escape abuse and gain access to safety and support. The Campaign calls on the Home Office, and where relevant, the Department of Works and Pensions and local authorities, to ensure that there is:

1. Effective implementation of the new benefit and housing scheme for victims of domestic violence on spousal visas. This includes ensuring that victims are fast tracked through the benefit system and tracked by the Department of Works and Pensions (DWP) for monitoring purposes. Training should also be provided to officials within the DWP, the UKBA and local authority housing departments on the new scheme, delivered in conjunction with campaign members, and that victims have access to telephone (where interpretation is available), rather than online-only application processes. This also means that women’s organisations, particularly specialist BME women’s services, should be adequately funded to provide advice and assistance to enable victims to access benefits and housing under the new scheme.

2. Provide benefits and public housing, and the right to permanent settlement, for all victims of gender based violence and exploitation. In the interim, a pilot should be established similar to the Sojourner Project for such victims.

3. Provide legal aid for all victims of gender based violence and exploitation with immigration problems.

4. Exempt victims from the unspent criminal conviction regulations.

5. Withdraw proposals in the recent family migration consultation, such as the extension of the probationary period for spousal visas from 2 to 5 years, which will force more women to stay in abusive relationships without recourse to protection.

6. Abolish the probationary period as it keeps victims in vulnerable and abusive situations. 

The Campaign to Abolish No Recourse to Public Funds has over 27 members, including IKWRO.  It is chaired by Southall Black Sisters and hosted by the Women’s Resource Centre.

Read a BBC report on the new support scheme for migrant women here.

Forcing someone to marry is a serious violation of human rights which deprives the victim of the ability to make fundamental decisions about their life.  It can also involve serious crimes, including rape, abduction, assault and imprisonment.  Yet forced marriage is not a crime under UK law.
Last May the Home Affairs Committee recommended that the government make forcing someone to marry a criminal offence.  The HAC argued that this “would send out a very clear and positive message to communities”. 
A government consultation on this is ongoing.  IKWRO recently held a meeting with 15 Iranian, Kurdish and Afghan women - several of them survivors of forced marriage – to gage their views. All of the women were strongly in favour of criminalising forced marriage. 

Empowering victims with knowledge about their rights
Many victims of forced marriage do not recognise that their parents are doing something wrong and it is often only later that they realise they were forced into marriage.  Sometimes the emotional pressure from families can be subtle, constantly reminding the daughter that she must protect the family’s ‘honour’.  It can also be more direct, where the parent threatens suicide or says that the family will be disgraced if the daughter does not get married.   Other victims are frightened about becoming homeless, or they may even be afraid for their lives.

The women who attended our focus group argued that criminalisation will empower victims with knowledge of their rights.  If forced marriage were a crime, some said, they would have known that what was happening to them was wrong and this would have encouraged them to look for help earlier.
“Women would be aware of their rights and they would feel stronger and more able to stand up to forced marriage,” one woman argued. 
This experience has been reflected in Denmark, where forced marriage has been a crime since 2008. 
“It has in no way been our experience that young people have stopped seeking help because of this law” Danish organisation LOKK told IKWRO.  “On the contrary, the number of young people and professionals seeking help from LOKK has soared since 2008.”
Participants also emphasised that schools need to teach young people about forced marriage, and called for information on women’s rights to be provided to women who enter the UK from other countries. 

Deterring perpetrators and making forced marriage unacceptable
The group also believed that criminalisation would help to prevent forced marriage by sending a stronger message to families that it will not be tolerated.
“Even to get a driving license in this country is difficult,” one woman said.  “If you drive the wrong way that’s a crime, but if you force someone into marriage it’s not.  The law should be changed to show how serious forced marriage is.  There should be a strong law to protect women.”
Participants argued that criminalisation “would make a major difference” because “families would be scared” and “would not put themselves at risk of prison or of being called criminals”.  Participants also felt that criminalising forced marriage would ensure that families who use emotional pressure can be held responsible in law.  While some victims of forced marriage prosecute their families for associated offences such as assault, imprisonment or threats to kill, those who have been emotionally blackmailed or tricked into marriage have no such option. 

Ensuring victims and witnesses are protected
The women emphasised that victims and witnesses would need support in order to report forced marriage and to go through with prosecution.  A recent review of the Statutory Guidance on Forced Marriage showed that many professionals do not know their duties to victims of forced marriage and found that “schools, further education colleges, health services, local authorities and local authority housing departments will need to do more”. 
The government must implement the Statutory Guidance so that victims of forced marriage get support from the moment they come forward and through the criminal justice system. 

Concerns
Some organisations are concerned that criminalisation will affect the level of protection available to victims or will discourage those who do not want to criminalise their families from coming forward.  Group members suggested that the law should explicitly provide that no one should be forced into a prosecution against their wishes, and that the civil protection provided by Forced Marriage Protection Orders should continue to be available to victims, alongside any criminal charges.  The government should also ensure that legal aid continues to be available to victims who need an FMPO, even if they are already considered to be protected because bail conditions have been imposed on their family members.

Opponents have argued that there have been no prosecutions under the Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003.  This is largely due to the fact that FGM is carried out on small children who may be frightened about being put into care and are often unable to give a consistent account of what has happened.  In cases of forced marriage, the victim is older, more able to articulate what has happened and more able to envisage separating from her family.  Moreover, recent research on FGM suggests that the practice, particularly the more severe forms, is becoming less acceptable in the UK.  Criminalisation has undoubtedly played some role in this shifting of attitudes. 

Have you say
The consultation will run until 30 March.  We urge all organisations working with survivors of forced marriage to consider the points we have raised and to feed into the consultation..
Details can be found at
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/about-us/consultations/forced-marriage/. 

A year ago, to mark International Women’s Day, I wrote a blog post for the Independent.  I wrote about a GP’s receptionist who refused to put up a poster advertising our advice service for women facing ‘honour’-based violence.  The receptionist told one of our workers that the poster “might offend men”.

We were by no means surprised by the receptionist’s reaction.  Later last year, we spoke to a student counsellor who said that while she had spoken to several sixth-form students who were facing forced marriage, she had never phoned the police, and instead simply offered the girls ‘a shoulder to cry on’.

Her response, and the receptionist’s, are indicative of a much broader problem and one that we encounter all the time: the idea that abuse of women and girls from minority communities is somehow acceptable because they are from a different ‘culture’.

Also on International Women’s Day last year, the government released an action plan on violence against women and girls which promised special training for police and pledged to raise awareness of ‘honour’ based violence within local authorities.  We hoped that these measures would help to challenge the receptionist and others like her to think differently.

Yet, a whole year on, these commitments have not been delivered.  What’s more, a recent review of the statutory guidance on forced marriage, which creates legal duties for public bodies to protect children and vulnerable adults from the practice, has revealed a widespread lack of awareness.  For other forms of ‘honour’-based violence the picture is even bleaker.

‘Honour’-based violence, or HBV, is different from other types of abuse in that it is normally planned and carried out collectively, with the whole family and sometimes even the wider community playing a part.  Police officers, social workers and other professionals don’t always understand this, and can wrongly assume that certain family members – mothers or sisters for example – are on the victim’s side.  We’ve had cases where police or social services have put victims in greater danger by letting members of their family know that they have sought help.  Some officers have even given a victim’s address to their family after they have escaped, plunging them back into danger.

Until last year, there were no figures on the prevalence of HBV in this country.  To get these, the Iranian and Kurdish Women’s Rights Organisation (IKWRO) sent freedom of information requests to the UK’s 52 police forces, asking how many incidents of HBV they recorded in 2010.  We got data back from 39 forces, showing a total of 2823 incidents across the country.  These incidents could include anything from threats, emotional blackmail or surveillance to assault, imprisonment, abduction, forced marriage, rape and even forced suicide and murder.

We were shocked that the problem was so widespread, and we hoped the government would be too.  A Home Office spokesperson told channel 4 “we recognise the need for greater consistency on the ground to stop this indefensible practice” and went on to cite the commitments in the government’s action plan – commitments which have still not been implemented.

The government is also considering whether to make forcing someone to marry a criminal offence.  IKWRO supports criminalisation, because it will send a tougher message to families and will give victims a stronger sense of their right to say no to forced marriage.  However, we also know that it will only be effective if accompanied by wider improvements which ensure that victims of forced marriage and other forms of HBV get the right support from the moment they come forward.

We believe that a cross-government approach to HBV is needed.  Ensuring a better response from frontline professionals like the police and social services is a must, but greater protection for victims of ‘honour’ violence in the criminal justice system, in immigration and asylum decisions and in foreign policy are also needed, as are efforts to change communities’ attitudes to violence against women and girls.  We would like to see a government strategy aimed at tackling ‘honour’ based violence.

To mark International Women’s Day, the Home Office will be releasing an update of its violence against women and girls action plan.  We hope that this updated plan will be much tougher on tackling HBV and that, this time, its promises will be delivered on.

As for us, we’re off to Number 10 Downing Street for a special International Women’s Day reception with the Prime Minister.  We’ll be sending the message that for too long, issues like ‘honour’-based violence have been sidelined as ‘cultural’, and haven’t had the attention they deserve.  We’ll be telling the Prime Minister loud and clear that it’s time to change that.

Blog published by The Independent to mark International Women’s Day, 8 March 2012.

PRESS RELEASE

FGM Zero Tolerance Day – UK must get serious

6 February 2012

Ahead of the International Day of Zero Tolerance to female genital mutilation (FGM) on Monday, The Foundation for Women’s Health Research and Development (FORWARD) and the Iranian and Kurdish Women’s Rights Organisation (IKRWO) are calling for a long-term, comprehensive strategy to tackle FGM in the UK.

FGM is a form of violence against women and girls and a human rights violation. The practice is illegal in the UK and is classified as a form of child abuse, yet in 2007 it was estimated that more than 32,000 girls were at high risk of being subjected to it.  Over 66,000 women and girls living in the UK have already undergone FGM.

While FGM has largely been perceived as an African problem, research has revealed that it is also widespread in some Asian and Middle Eastern countries. In January the first conference on FGM in the Middle East found that FGM is practiced in Iran, Iraq, Syria, Saudi Arabia and Yemen. 

“Until now, action on FGM in the UK has been piecemeal and only focused on African communities,” said Naana Otoo-Oyortey, Executive Director of FORWARD. “The UK needs a more holistic approach, with demonstrable commitment on educating social workers, school teachers, doctors and other professionals and engaging affected communities so that we can work together to end FGM. We welcome the recent establishment of an All Party Parliamentary Group on FGM.”

“FGM is a serious crime under UK law, but we know that the practice is continuing within Middle Eastern and African communities,” added Diana Nammi, Director of IKWRO.  “Greater effort is needed to raise awareness within affected communities of the impact that FGM has on physical and mental health, and to convince parents that FGM is a violation of girls’ rights which will not be tolerated and should be stopped.”

To mark the International day of Zero Tolerance to FGM, FORWARD is launching an online survey on the knowledge, attitudes and experiences of young people living in the UK.  IKWRO is also gathering data on to gain better insight and understanding of FGM, by including a question on FGM in our risk assessments with new clients.

A video has been released today by the END FGM European Campaign, which works with FORWARD and 13 other partner organisations across Europe. The video calls on European leaders to take action to END FGM. Watch it here.

ENDS

Check out IKWRO’s blog at the Independent for International Day of Zero Tolerance. 

Background

• Female genital mutilation involves any cutting of the female genital organs which is done for non-medical reasons.  It can involve the removal of all or part of the clitoris or labia, and in some cases the labia are stitched together, leaving just a small hole for urine and menstrual blood to pass through. FGM affects 8000 girls each day across the world.
• FGM is a criminal offence under the FGM Act 2003, punishable by up to 14 years in prison, but no one has ever been prosecuted for it.  In February 2011 the government released guidelines on FGM, targeted at professionals such as health workers, teachers, Police Officers and social services staff.  FORWARD and IKWRO have expressed concerns that these guidelines have not reached the professionals who need them because they are not being actively promoted in local areas.
• FORWARD is an African Diaspora women’s campaign and support charity. Our work responds to the need to safeguard dignity and advance the sexual and reproductive health and human rights of African women and girls with a special focus on responding to female genital mutilation, child marriage and obstetric fistula.  Our vision is that women and girls live in dignity, are healthy and have choices and equal opportunities to fulfil their potential.
• The Iranian and Kurdish Women’s Rights Organisation is a registered charity which provides advice and support to women and girls from the UK’s Middle Eastern communities who are facing domestic violence, ‘honour’ based violence, forced marriage or female genital mutilation.  Recent studies have found that as high as 72% of women in Iraqi Kurdistan have undergone FGM.
• The END FGM European Campaign, led by Amnesty International, launched a strategy in 2010 to end FGM with specific demands for EU institutions and member states. The summary of the strategy is available in English and French – _______________________________________________________________________________________

© BrendanODonnell@ymail.com

The winners of IKWRO’s first True Honour Awards - an annual prize which has been established in memory of all victims of honour killing – were announced during a special ceremony in London.

The first winner is Hanim Goren, the mother of “honour” killing victim Tulay Goren. 15 year old Tulay disappeared in January 1999 after angering her father Mehmet. Hanim Goren suspected that her husband had killed Tulay, but she was too frightened to talk to police because of the risk to her own life.  In 2009 Hanim finally decided to break her silence and give evidence against her husband.  Fully aware that this could lead to serious consequences for herself including death, she not only helped to secure justice for Tulay by sending her husband to prison for life, but she also encouraged other silent witnesses to come forward.  Through the brave example that she has set Hanim Goren has made a monumental contribution to the fight against “honour” based violence.

The second winner of this year’s True Honour Award is Anne-Marie Hutchinson OBE. As a partner and head of the Children Department at Dawson Cornwell Solicitors, Anne-Marie has championed the rights of victims of ‘honour’ based violence and forced marriage.  Her work in this field began in the 1997 case Re KR, where the court recognised the need to protect victims of forced marriage, despite the lack of any legislation.  Since then she has repatriated over 50 forced marriage victims back to the UK and has prevented the removal of many more.  In 2009 Anne-Marie brought one of the first cases under the new Forced Marriage (Civil Protection) Act before the High court, and established that English courts could make protection orders in respect of non-British victims who are overseas.

Speaking at the True Honour Awards ceremony on 5 December, IKWRO’s Director Diana Nammi paid tribute to the bravery and hard work of both women, and awarded each of them with a crystal vase.  She also congratulated all of our True Honour Award nominees, every single one of whom has made an outstanding contribution to the fight against ‘honour’ based violence and deserves maximum respect for their work.  The other nominees include:

• Dr Aisha Gill, Reader in Criminology at the University of Roehampton who has written extensively on the issue of ‘honour’ based violence and provides advice and support to government bodies and women’s organisations.
• Bekhal Mahmod, sister of ‘honour’ killing victim Banaz Mahmod, who was brave enough to testify at the trial of her sister’s murderers in 2007 and has worked to raise awareness of ‘honour’ killing since then.
• Brent Hyatt, a Detective Chief Inspector of the Metropolitan Police who investigated the ‘honour’ killing of Heshu Yunes in 2005 and has worked tirelessly to raise awareness across the police.
• Caroline Goode, a Detective Chief Inspector of the Metropolitan Police whose hard work led and determination led to five prosecutions in relation to the ‘honour’ killing of Banaz Mahmod in 2006.
• Deeyah, a Norwegian singer, film maker and activist of Pakistani and Pashtun origin who has raised awareness of ‘honour’ based violence through her music, films and the memorial website memini.
• Fleur Gardiner, a Domestic Violence Coordinator who has turned around the response to ‘honour’ based violence on the Isle of Wight by working to improve awareness of the problem and strengthen services for victims.
• The Gemini project, a unique refuge which provides accomodation to couples who are affected by ‘honour’ based violence, and campaigns to raise awareness of the fact that ‘honour’ based violence can affect couples and men as well as women.
• Kuljit Lally, a solicitor with Adams Moore Family Law, who has championed the rights of victims of forced marriage and other abuses through legal representation and awareness raising in Milton Keynes and Luton.
• Navida Ullah, head of the family department at Ashgar and Co Solicitors, who has helped countless women to obtain protection from forced marriage through the courts, and shows great sensitivity and perseverance when working with victims.
• Rahila Gupta, a writer and journalist, has campaigned extensively for the rights of women from ethnic minorities, including victims of ‘honour’ based violence, and wrote Circle of Light about a Punjabi woman who successfully appealed a conviction for her husband’s murder after suffering 10 years of abuse at his hands.
• Sara Browne, an immigration solicitor from Luqmani Thompson and partners, who has helped many women who  would be at risk of ‘honour’ killing in their home countries to remain in the UK where they will be safe. 
• Sarah Pepper, Child Protection Coordinator at Islington Children’s Services, who has gone beyond the call of duty to help victims of ‘honour’ based violence and has raised awareness of the issues across Islington.

IKWRO is extremely grateful to our sponsors, Dawson Cornwall the family law firm and 7 Bedford Row barrister chambers, and to everyone who made a nomination, attended the awards ceremony or otherwise supported our first True Honour Awards.

To be kept informed about next year’s True Honour Awards sign up to our newsletter on the home page or email campaigns.ikwro@gmail.com.

New research by IKWRO has revealed that at least 2800 cases of ‘honour’ based violence were reported to police forces across the UK last year.

These figures demonstrate that ‘honour’ based violence is not a minor problem but a very serious issue which affects thousands of people each year, many of whom will suffer high levels of abuse before they seek help. IKWRO is calling on the government to develop a national strategy to tackle ‘honour’ based violence across the UK.

The research has been covered across the UK media, with an interview by IKWRO’s Director Diana Nammi headlining on BBC News 24 television.  It was also featured on BBC Radio 4 News and is the headline story on the BBC News website today.

In the print and online media the research was also covered by Rachel Williams at The Guardian, as well as Sky News, Channel4 online, The Daily Mail, The Telegraph and The Huffington Post.

New research by IKWRO has found that more than 2800 incidents of ‘honour’ based violence were reported to police across the UK last year.

IKWRO sent Freedom of Information requests to all 52 police forces across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland asking how many incidents of ‘honour’ based violence they had recorded last year.  39 police forces responded with a total of 2823 incidents.  IKWRO estimates that a further 500 incidents may have been reported to the 13 forces who did not respond.

“These figures demonstrate that ‘honour’ based violence is not a minor problem but a very serious issue which affects thousands of people each year, many of whom will suffer high levels of abuse before they seek help,” a spokesperson for IKWRO said. IKWRO is calling on the government to develop a national strategy to tackle ‘honour’ based violence across the UK.

Twelve of the police forces also provided statistics for 2009, and nine of these showed an increase in ‘honour’ crime between 2009 and 2010. The overall increase across the twelve forces was 57%.  In London ‘honour’ crime has doubled to more than 5 times the national average, and in Northumberland it has tripled in a year

The top five worst areas are:

1.    London                                     495 incidents

2.    West Midlands                       378 incidents

3.    West Yorkshire                      350 incidents

4.    Lancashire                              227 incidents

5.    Manchester                             189 incidents

The perpetrators of ‘honour’ crimes tend to be close family members of their victims, who are, more often than not, female. What they have in common is that the victim’s personal conduct is thought to have brought shame on her family.  Reasons for this perceived dishonour have been known to be anything from refusing an arranged marriage, seeking a divorce, beginning a relationship that the family does not approve of or even being the victim of a sexual assault. One 15-year-old girl known to IKWRO was subjected to beatings and house arrest after her father found text messages on her phone to male friends from school.

You can watch IKWRO’s Director talking live about the research on BBC News 24.  For details of all other media coverage click here.

© BrendanODonnell@ymail.com

More than 250 people from sectors including health, housing, policing, probation, social services, education and academia, legal, local and national government, the voluntary sector and the media attended IKWRO’s international conference last Thursday in London.

The conference was opened by Jeremy Corbyn, MP for Islington North, who welcomed participants and spoke of how important it was for frontline professionals s to be aware of issues such as “honour” based violence (HBV).  He also said that immigration authorities do not always believe women who have experienced violence and called for the immigration system to be more gender sensitive.

Mr Corbyn was followed by Metropolitan Police Commander Mak Chishty, who is the current lead on HBV for the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO).  Commander Chishty gave a short history of the police’s work to tackle HBV, and stressed how much awareness has increased and how much the police response has improved since ACPO brought out its first HBV strategy in 2008.  He announced plans for a new strategy with six priorities including making HBV unacceptable in communities, recognising cases of HBV and intervening early, and ensuring justice for victims.

The next speaker was Dr Corrina Ter-Nedden from the German organisation Türkisch‐Deutscher Frauenverein (Papatya).  Papatya provides safe housing to women and girls who are fleeing forced marriage or honour based violence, and also runs an online counselling service for those who are worried about their safety or want to escape.  Corinna told the inspiring story of a young woman called Julia who emailed Papatya asking for help to escape a forced marriage.  Papatya advised Julia to talk to a teacher, and told her about a refuge she could go to in a nearby city.  A year later Julia emailed to say that her life was good and to thank Papatya.

After Corinna came the speaker that so many had been waiting for, Egyptian activist Nawal El Saadawi.  Nawal is a psychiatrist and the author of more than forty books.  Aged 80 years old, Nawal currently lives in Egypt and took part in the protests at Tahrir Square.

“I have been dreaming of revolution all my life,” she said.  “I wrote about it in my diary when I was a girl. I wanted to revolt against the fact that my brother had so many privileges compared to me.  I wanted to revolt against my school, which treated the rich girls differently.  When I was in Tahrir Square under my tent, with the women and the men, I was living my dream. I had been dreaming of this for over 70yrs.”

Nawal also addressed the issue of honour killing, and stressed that patriarchy is at the root of this and all other forms of violence against women and girls.  She told the story of a woman who celebrated when her own daughter was murder and explained how that woman was a slave to patriarchy.  She emphasised how important it was for women to be empowered to challenge patriarchy and to protect their daughters from honour killing and other violence.  Nawal also spoke about the links between patriarchy and capitalism.  She received a standing ovation at the end of her slot.

During the questions and answers session, an interesting debate came up on the issue of secularism.  Some members of the audience argued that by advocating secularism we are alienating Muslim women.  For these women, the emphasis is on reinterpreting Islam from a feminist perspective, rather than challenging the role of Islam in society altogether.  Nawal said that while she did not criticise what these women were doing, for her a state that is based on religion will always be discriminatory.  For her secularism is the only way to ensure equality.

In the afternoon Arvid Vormann from the German NGO WADI spoke about the work that his organisation had done to end FGM in Iraqi Kurdistan.  Arvid presented a study by WADI which found that 72.7% of women in Iraqi Kurdistan had undergone FGM.  He described WADI’s campaign to break taboos around FGM by working with communities, women’s movements, the media and politicians.  As a result of the campaign, earlier this year the Kurdish Regional Government made FGM a criminal offence.  Arvid also emphasised the importance of educational work at community level, and told the story of the village of Toutakhel, which decided to abandon FGM earlier this year.  Find out more from here.

Arvid was followed by IKWRO’s Director Diana Nammi who told the story of Banaz Mahmod, a 20 year old Iraqi Kurdish woman who was the victim of an honour killing in 2006.  Banaz was murdered on the orders of her father and uncle after she left a violent forced marriage and began a new relationship which they did not approve of.  Before her death, Banaz sought help from the police four times.  While recognising the progress that has been made since Banaz’s death, Diana called on the government to increase leadership through a national HBV strategy.  Key priorities for this strategy should be increasing awareness among frontline staff, collecting better data on HBV, getting schools to do more and changing government policy in relation to housing and immigration so that all women and girls can get protection from HBV.

The last presenter of the day was Chaz Akoshile, Joint Head of the Forced Marriage Unit.  Chaz provided general information on forced marriage, stressing that the key determinant of whether a marriage has been forced is consent.  He also provided data on cases dealt with by the FMU, which helped 1700 people at risk of forced marriage in 2010.  He emphasised the one chance rule – explaining that professionals may only have one chance to help a person who is at risk, and that they should take every complaint seriously.  He also underlined how important it is not to contact the victim’s family or disclose any details of the complaint to them, since this can often put the person at greater risk.  He encouraged participants to familiarise themselves with the government’s forced marriage guidelines, which contain colour coded sections aimed at professionals from different fields.

Overall the conference was an absolutely brilliant day.  The presenters – all experts in their field – really helped to bring the issues to life and Nawal El Saadawi’s determination and revolutionary spirit brought an incredible burst of energy to the day. Delegates sat at round tables, rather than in the usual rows, which gave more opportunities for mixing and exchanging ideas.  The conversation at lunchtime, enjoyed over some delicious Middle Eastern food, was very animated.

IKWRO would like to express our gratitude everyone who helped make our conference a success – from the speakers to the event organisers to the delegates who joined us on the day.  Thank you!  We couldn’t have done it without you!