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Honour Based Violence and Forced Marriage

Below you will find various information and support resources covering Honour Based Violence and Forced Marriage for both citizens and professionals.

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What Is Honour Based Violence And Forced Marriage

Honour based violence and abuse (HBVA) is defined as violent crimes, abuse or incidents committed to ‘defend the honour of the family or community.’ There is no specific offence of ‘honour-based’ crime. It is an umbrella term to encompass various offences covered by existing legislation. HBVA can be described as a collection of practices, which are used to control behaviour within families or other social groups to protect perceived cultural and religious beliefs and/or honour. HBVA may also be referred to as “honour crime” or “izzat.”

Circumstances which may lead to the abuse are wide ranging and not culturally specific. It is important to remember that, despite the use of this label, there can be no ‘honour’ in abuse, and where culture or tradition are used to exert power or control over others, this can only be a misuse of that culture.

Honour based violence and abuse (HBVA) affects people of all ages, but often begins early, in the family home. This can lead to a deeply embedded form of coercive control [1], built on expectations about behaviour that are made clear at a young age. Often the control is established without obvious violence against the victim, for instance through family members threatening to kill themselves because of the victim’s behaviour. Victims will have multiple perpetrators not only in the UK; HBVA can be a trigger for a forced marriage.

[1] Coercive control is an act or a pattern of acts of assault, threats, humiliation and intimidation or other abuse that is used to harm, punish, or frighten their victim.

Potential Warning Signs And Indicators

Education

  • Absence and persistent absence
  • Poor exam results
  • Request for extended leave of absence and failure to return from visits to country of origin
  • Being withdrawn from school by those with parental responsibility
  • Fear about forthcoming school holidays
  • Sudden announcement of engagement to a stranger
  • Surveillance by siblings or cousins at school
  • Not allowed to attend extra-curricular activities
  • Decline in behaviour, engagement, performance or punctuality
  • Removal from a day centre of a person with a physical or learning disability
  • Prevented from going on to further/higher education

Family History

  • Siblings forced to marry
  • Early marriage of siblings
  • Self-harm or suicide of siblings
  • Death of a parent
  • Family disputes
  • Running away from home
  • Unreasonable restrictions e.g. kept at home by parents (“house arrest”)and financial restrictions

Health

  • Accompanied to doctors or clinics
  • Self-harm / attempted suicide
  • Eating disorders
  • Depression / isolation
  • Substance misuse
  • Unwanted pregnancy
  • Female Genital Mutilation

Employment

  • Poor performance
  • Poor attendance
  • Limited career choices
  • Not allowed to work
  • Unable to attend business trips or functions
  • Subject to financial control e.g. confiscation of wages / income
  • Leaving work accompanied
  • Unable to be flexible in their working arrangements

Police

  • Victim or other siblings within the family reported missing
  • Reports of domestic abuse, harassment or breaches of the peace at the family home
  • Female Genital Mutilation
  • The victim reported for offences e.g. shoplifting or substance misuse
  • Threats to kill and attempts to kill or harm
  • Reports of other offences such as rape or kidnap
  • Acid attacks

Local Contact Numbers for Support and Reporting

  • Nottingham City Children and Families Direct – Tel: 0115 876 4800 (8:30-16:45) out of hours calls are diverted to the Emergency Duty Team (including Bank Holidays).
  • Juno Women’s Aid 24 hour free Helpline – Tel: 0115 947 6490 (professionals) or for survivors – Tel: 0808 800 0340 / 0808 800 0341 (text-phone 9:00-17:00) for female survivors, https://junowomensaid.org.uk/
  • Equation- Tel: 0115 960 5556 for male survivors, https://equation.org.uk/need-help/help-for-men/
  • Nottinghamshire Police HBVA – Tel: 101, https://www.nottinghamshire.police.uk/hba
  • Nottingham Muslim Women's Network – Tel: 0115 8372627 (DV Support worker)
  • Nottingham City Adult Social Care – Tel: 0300 131 0300, select option 2, (8:30-17:00) or out of hours Tel: 0115 876 1000

National Support and Advice

  • Forced Marriage Protection Unit – Tel: 0207 088 0151 (out of Hours – Tel: 0207 008 1500), https://www.gov.uk/guidance/forced-marriage
  • Karma Nirvana – Tel: 0800 5999247, https://karmanirvana.org.uk/
  • IKRWO – Women’s Rights Organisation – Tel: 0207 920 6460 (9:30-17:30 Monday – Friday), http://ikwro.org.uk/

Statistics and Data

  • Information from Karma Nirvana national data:
  • In November 2019 Karma Nirvana received 859 contacts for support and help regarding HBVA and FM.
  • 182 victims accessing support were Female.
  • Karma Nirvana‘s helpline supported 22 children during November, 13 of whom were at risk of FM.
  • 16 victims of HBA were identified by professionals working in education.
  • Information from HBVA Awarenes.com
  • These figures[1] are considered estimates and are widely believed to be severe underestimates. Due to lack of focused reporting and recording of Honour Killings internationally very little is known about the true extent of HBV worldwide.
  • 5,000 honour killings internationally per year.
  • 1,000 honour killings occur in India
  • 1,000 honour killings occur in Pakistan
  • 12 honour killings per year in UK
  • [1] http://hbv-awareness.com/statistics-data/#UK

Training (Professionals)

Documents for Professionals and Citizens

Document for Professionals

Last updated: 26 March 2026