Select Committee · Women and Equalities Committee

So-called honour-based abuse

Status: Closed Opened: 4 Nov 2022 Closed: 6 Feb 2024 10 recommendations 6 conclusions 1 report

An inquiry to examine the prevalence of so-called honour-based abuse in the UK, the extent to which the Government, police and other services understand the forms of such abuse, and the support in place to help victims. Read the terms of reference to learn more about the inquiry . This inquiry is part of the …

Reports

1 report

Title	HC No.	Published	Items	Response
Sixth Report - So-called honour-based abuse	HC 831	19 Jul 2023	16	Responded

Recommendations & Conclusions

3 items

9 Recommendation Sixth Report - So-called honour-based a… Rejected

Introduce a statutory definition for honour-based abuse with accompanying multi-agency guidance

The Government should introduce a statutory definition of honour-based abuse. It should consult a wide range of experts, specialist by-and-for services and survivors of honour-based abuse on framing the definition using the existing Crown Prosecution Service definition as a starting point. The definition, once finalised, should be accompanied by statutory …

Government response. The government explains that a clear non-statutory definition of honour-based abuse already exists and it is not clear that making it statutory would improve outcomes, though they will continue to keep it under review.

Government Equalities Office

11 Recommendation Sixth Report - So-called honour-based a… Rejected

Establish a robust firewall between police and Home Office on victim immigration data sharing

The Government should establish an appropriate firewall-type mechanism between the police and the Home Office to prevent data sharing for the purposes of enforcing immigration rules against victims of abuse. The firewall should be designed to ensure the police only share information with Immigration Enforcement on victims in exceptional circumstances, …

Government response. The government rejected the establishment of a firewall-type mechanism for data sharing between police and the Home Office regarding victims of abuse, stating it is in the public interest for individuals without lawful status to be brought into the immigration …

Government Equalities Office

15 Recommendation Sixth Report - So-called honour-based a… Rejected

Introduce a distinct honour-based abuse strategy specifically aimed at male victims

We recognise the overwhelming majority of victims of honour-based abuse are female, but this must not detract from the experiences of male victims. We are concerned the inclusion of men and boys in strategies primarily aimed at women and girls fails to empower male victims and can contribute to underreporting. …

Government response. The government rejects introducing a distinct strategy for male victims of honour-based abuse, stating that existing strategies and the 'Supporting Male Victims' document already cover male victims and address their specific challenges.

Government Equalities Office

Oral evidence sessions

2 sessions

Date	Witnesses
11 Jan 2023	DCC Ivan Balhatchet · National Police Chiefs' Council, Jaswant Narwal · Crown Prosecution Service, Nicole Jacobs, Designate Domestic Abuse Commissioner, Sarah Dines MP · Home Office, The Rt Hon Edward Argar MP · Ministry of Justice	View ↗
7 Dec 2022	Dr Hannana Siddiqui · Southall Black Sisters, Dr Roxanne Khan · University of Central Lancashire, Ms Diana Nammi · Iranian and Kurdish Women's Rights Organisation, Ms Surwat Sohail · Roshni Birmingham, Ms Yasmin Khan, Prof. Aisha K Gill PH.D CBE · University of Bristol	View ↗

Correspondence

2 letters

Date	Direction	Title
22 Mar 2023	To cttee	Letter from the Minister for Safeguarding relating to the Honour-Based Abuse in…
22 Mar 2023	To cttee	Letter from the CPS relating to follow-ups to the So-called honour-based abuse …