Source · Select Committees · Women and Equalities Committee
Sixth Report - So-called honour-based abuse
Women and Equalities Committee
HC 831
Published 19 July 2023
Recommendations
2
Deferred
Para 24
Publish refreshed guidance for police on recording honour-based abuse and victim data
Recommendation
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 …
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Government Response Summary
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
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5
Accepted
Para 38
Set out progress on police and safeguarding professionals' honour-based abuse training
Recommendation
In response to this Report, the Government should set out the progress made in implementing the national training package for frontline police officers on recognising so-called honour-based abuse. The Government must also set out the steps it will take to …
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Government Response Summary
The government states the Department for Education has contracted research to understand the quality of implementation and teacher confidence in teaching statutory requirements related to HBA, with a report due in early 2024. It also notes that HBA is already included in teacher training modules.
Government Equalities Office
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6
Deferred
Para 39
Include specific questions on honour-based abuse within the Domestic Abuse Risk Assessment tool
Recommendation
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 Summary
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 a statutory definition under review.
Government Equalities Office
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7
Accepted
Para 42
Improve the teaching of honour-based abuse within Relationships, Sex and Health Education settings
Recommendation
The Government is currently reviewing the content of relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) taught in schools. It is clear from the evidence we received that the teaching of honour-based abuse is currently inadequate. The ongoing review of RSHE should …
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Government Response Summary
The government states that honour-based abuse is already taught as part of the ‘being safe topic’ in RSHE, with specific teacher training modules covering it. The ongoing RSHE review is assessing whether overall coverage is appropriate and can be strengthened on various topics, but does not specifically commit to improving HBA teaching as part of the review.
Government Equalities Office
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9
Rejected
Introduce a statutory definition for honour-based abuse with accompanying multi-agency guidance
Recommendation
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 …
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Government Response Summary
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
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11
Rejected
Para 59
Establish a robust firewall between police and Home Office on victim immigration data sharing
Recommendation
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 …
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Government Response Summary
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 system and that a firewall would be impractical for police to encourage regularisation of status.
Government Equalities Office
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13
Accepted
Para 65
Increase multi-year funding for by-and-for honour-based abuse services via simpler grants
Recommendation
The Government should increase the funding available to by-and-for services that support victims of honour-based abuse. The Government should commit to providing this funding across multiple years. It should also assess the merits of that funding being made available in …
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Government Response Summary
The government highlights existing measures, including the £8.3m VAWG Specialist and Support Services Fund for 2023/24 and 2024/25 and efforts to simplify funding applications for HBA charities, but does not commit to increasing overall funding or providing multi-year funding beyond the current period.
Government Equalities Office
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14
Deferred
Reconsider Istanbul Convention Article 59 reservation and extend migrant victim support eligibility
Recommendation
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 …
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Government Response Summary
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
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15
Rejected
Para 83
Introduce a distinct honour-based abuse strategy specifically aimed at male victims
Recommendation
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 …
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Government Response Summary
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
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16
Deferred
Require Sentencing Council to include motivations of honour as an aggravating factor in domestic abuse guideline
Recommendation
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 …
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Government Response Summary
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
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Conclusions (6)
1
Conclusion
Accepted
Para 23
There is inconsistency in how data on honour-based abuse offences is collected and recorded by the police. This is partly due to incorrect recording by police officers, either in failing to recognise an offence as honour-based, or in making an inaccurate assessment of the context. There is insufficient information provided …
Government Response Summary
The government recognises the importance of high-quality data and states police are already working with partners to agree national data standards for recording protected characteristics, including ethnicity and race.
3
Conclusion
Accepted
The Department of Health and Social Care and the Department of Education should add options for honour-based abuse to both the ‘primary need at first social work assessment’ and ‘factors identified at the end of the assessment’ categories in the ‘Children in need’ census. (Paragraph 25) Recognising honour-based abuse
Government Response Summary
The government does not address the recommendation to add HBA options to the 'Children in need' census, instead detailing existing e-learning courses and statutory guidance on FGM and forced marriage for professionals.
4
Conclusion
Accepted
Para 37
We welcome the steps taken by the police service in response to the concerns raised in the super-complaint on honour-based abuse brought by Liberty and the Halo Project in 2020. However, there is still more work to be done if victims of honour-based abuse are to feel empowered to report …
Government Response Summary
The government acknowledges the importance of professionals having the right skills and details extensive existing training, e-learning courses, statutory multi-agency guidance, and resource packs provided by the Home Office, College of Policing, and the Forced Marriage Unit to enhance the recognition and response to HBA.
8
Conclusion
Deferred
Para 48
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 Summary
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.
10
Conclusion
Deferred
Para 58
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 Summary
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.
12
Conclusion
Accepted
Para 64
By-and-for services, which are organisations designed and run by and for people who are minoritised, are vital to ensuring victims of honour- based abuse receive the support they need. However, the sector is underfunded, and complex commissioning processes often prevent smaller specialist organisations from competing against generic and larger providers …
Government Response Summary
The government acknowledges the vital work of HBA charities and states it has implemented measures like promoting consortium bidding, extended application times, and launched a £8.3m fund for 'by and for' services, alongside a commissioning toolkit.