Honour-based abuse means violence, coercion and control, comitted by family members or communities, to protect or restore an idea of 'honour'. This abuse can include physical violence, emotional abuse, forced marriage, and other harmful practices.
Honour-based abuse is a severe violation of human rights, and has very serious and often lifelong effects on victims. If you, or someone you know, is experiencing this type of abuse, it is important to know how to report it and seek help.
Why this type of abuse happens
Honour-based abuse is often carried out to 'correct', or prevent, behaviour that the community may find unacceptable. For example:
Religious or community 'defiance'
- Disagreeing with the religion of the family or community
- Defying authority, such as insulting a family or community member, rejecting a forced marriage, refusing to take part in honour-based violence, or assisting a victim
- Lifestyle choices which a partner, family or community disapprove of, such as how you dress, going out alone or to certain places, displaying affection in public, using drugs or alcohol, or talking to certain people
Relationships and sexuality
Having a relationship, or expressing a sexual or gender identity, which is not acceptable to the family or community, such as:
- A relationship with someone outside the religion of the community
- A same sex relationship or LGBTQ+ identity
- Visible marital problems, separation or divorce
- An extra-marital affair
- Pre-marital sex or pregnancy
Types of abuse
Honour-based violence or abuse is not one specific crime and can take many forms. Typically, the victim will suffer any of the following forms of abuse:
Loss of freedom
- Isolation from friends and family, or being expelled from the community
- Being kept against their will (with no access to passport, phone, or internet)
- Abandonment or pressure to move abroad (usually to their family or community's country of origin)
Violence
- Domestic abuse (of any type)
- Physical and emotional violence
- Common assault, GBH (grievous bodily harm) or kidnapping
- Manslaughter, death threats or murder
- Encouraging, assisting, or forcing suicide
Sexual attack or oppression
- Sexual harassment and violence, including rape and rape threats
- Forced marriage or forced abortion
- Female genital mutilation (FGM)
How to identify the signs of this type of abuse
If you are concerned about someone being abused, here are some warning signs to look out for (although there may be others):
Their appearance and mood
- Lack of confidence or self-esteem
- Being fearful or extremely anxious and upset
- Being withdrawn or unwilling to talk about home and family
- Depression, self-harm, or attempted suicide
- Unexplained physical injuries
- Major personality changes
Their situation or behaviour
- Domestic violence and family arguments
- History of family members going missing
- Being highly supervised and overly restricted in their movements
- Not having access to passport, internet, mobile phones, or family
- Difficulties at school or work and unexplained absences
- Running away from home
- Unusual or very frequent phone calls from partner or family
Report it
Any form of honour-based abuse or harmful practice is illegal, including female genital mutilation and forced marriage. Crimes of ‘honour’ should be treated as a violation of human rights, and not as a religious or cultural practice.
Contact the police
- In an emergency, always call 999
- Report honour-based abuse online
Report to us
You may need to call different teams, depending on the victim and the time you contact us.
- Please call B&NES Childrens Social Care Team on 01225 396312 or 01225 396 313 during normal office hours, or 014 5461 5165 (for out of hours emergency duty team).
- For adults with care and support needs, please ring B&NES Community Services team on 01225 396000.
Support for honour-based abuse
Please see our pages on FGM and Forced marriage, for dedicated advice and information about these forms of abuse.
| Organisation | Aims | Contact |
|---|---|---|
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Specialist support for any adult (18+) in B&NES who has experienced any form of sexual violence, at any point in their lives |
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| Victim Support |
Support for anyone affected by crime Specialised web pages for FGM and forced marriage |
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| Refugee Women of Bristol | A multi-ethnic, multi-faith organisation for refugee women in Bristol |
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| Organisation | Aims | Contact |
|---|---|---|
| National Domestic Abuse Helpline | 24/7 helpline for women and families trying to escape abuse | 0808 2000 247 |
| NSPCC | 24/7 helpline for families or professionals |
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| Halo Project | Supporting victims of honour-based violence, forced marriage and FGM |
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| Childline | Website and helpline for children and young people up to age 19 facing violence or abuse |
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| Karma Nirvana | A specialist charity which provides support for women who are at risk of honour-based abuse. |
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| True Honour | Confidential one-to-one victim support and training on how to deal with honour-based violence and forced marriage. |
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| Organisation | Aims | Contact |
|---|---|---|
| IKWRO |
Support around honour-based violence, for Middle Eastern, North African or Afghan women and girls Languages available: Arabic, Kurdish, Turkish, Dari, Pashto, Farsi, and English |
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| FORWARD | International women's rights organisation led by African women |
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| The Traveller Movement | An organisation which advocate for and work with Gypsy, Roma, and Traveller communities to tackle discrimination and promote equality. |
Call their domestic violence and abuse adviceline on 0754 1637 795 |