Recommendations & Conclusions
6 items
2
Recommendation
Sixth Report - So-called honour-based a…
Deferred
The Home Office, National Police Chiefs’ Council and College of Policing should publish refreshed guidance for forces on how to accurately and consistently record incidents of honour-based abuse. The Home Office should instruct police forces across England and Wales to collect specific information on victims and perpetrators of honour-based abuse, …
Government response. The government states the Department for Education is responsible for the 'children in need census' and is considering the committee’s feedback for future data collections, without addressing the recommendation for police data and guidance from the Home Office.
Government Equalities Office
6
Recommendation
Sixth Report - So-called honour-based a…
Deferred
The Government must include specific questions on honour-based abuse in the Domestic Abuse Risk Assessment tool to help both victims and police officers identify risks confidently and accurately.
Government response. The government does not address the recommendation to include specific HBA questions in the Domestic Abuse Risk Assessment tool, instead discussing existing non-statutory definitions and statutory guidance for FGM and forced marriage, and stating they will keep the need for …
Government Equalities Office
8
Conclusion
Sixth Report - So-called honour-based a…
Deferred
In order to tackle so-called honour-based abuse effectively, it is crucial there is shared understanding of it across all agencies. The introduction of a statutory definition of honour-based abuse would contribute to social and professional understanding, help to improve data collection and ultimately assist in bringing more perpetrators to justice.
Government response. The government deflected the recommendation, responding instead about existing funding for HBA charities and VAWG services, without addressing the call for a statutory definition of honour-based abuse.
Government Equalities Office
10
Conclusion
Sixth Report - So-called honour-based a…
Deferred
Abusers use the insecure immigration status of their victims to deter and prevent them from seeking support, exploiting fears that reporting abuse to the police will lead to action against the victim by Immigration Enforcement. We are not satisfied that the Immigration Enforcement Migrant Victims Protocol proposed by the Home …
Government response. The government deflected the concern about the Immigration Enforcement Migrant Victims Protocol and the impact of insecure immigration status, instead focusing on support for male victims of HBA and existing VAWG strategies.
Government Equalities Office
14
Recommendation
Sixth Report - So-called honour-based a…
Deferred
The Support for Migrant Victims Scheme pilot has been valuable and we welcome its extension to 2025. However, there are shortfalls in funding to support victims with no recourse to public funds. We are concerned this is aggravated by the Government’s reservation on Article 59 of the Council of Europe …
Government response. The government is deferring its decision on reconsidering the reservation to Article 59 of the Istanbul Convention, pending careful consideration of a pilot scheme evaluation, but will continue to fund the Support for Migrant Victims Scheme until 2024-25.
Government Equalities Office
16
Recommendation
Sixth Report - So-called honour-based a…
Deferred
It is reassuring to hear judges have robustly rejected any attempts to use ‘honour’ to reduce a sentence. Explicitly recognising so-called honour in sentencing guidelines would go further; it would strengthen the understanding that honour-based abuse is taken seriously by the criminal justice system and only ever as an aggravating …
Government response. The government states that the independent Sentencing Council has been alerted to the recommendation and will consider including motivations of honour as an aggravating factor as part of a planned review of the domestic abuse guideline.
Government Equalities Office