Decrease in reports of honour-based offences 'deeply concerning'
2,775 offences have been recorded by police forces in England and Wales, including 555 across the North West
Last updated 7th Nov 2024
A Liverpool-based charity working to end honour-based abuse says a decrease in the number of cases being reported across England and Wales is 'deeply concerning.'
Honour-based abuse is an incident of a crime or violence committed to defend the 'honour' of a family or community.
2,775 honour-based offences were reported by the police in England and Wales in the year ending March 2024, compared to 3,008 in the previous year.
Despite the overall number of recorded offences going down, the number of of FGM and forced marriage offences increased (from 86 to 111 and 173 to 201 respectively).
There were 555 recorded HBA offences across the North West, including:
- 348 in Greater Manchester (up from 319)
- 138 in Lancashire
- 38 in Merseyside (down from 52)
- 26 in Cheshire (down from 31)
- 41 in Staffordshire
Savera UK CEO and founder, Afrah Qassim, said:
"The data published by the Home Office today on reports for HBA offences in 2023/24 is deeply concerning.
"What is being reported by police contradicts what we as a grassroots specialist service are seeing on the ground - increasing referrals for HBA and harmful practices such as FGM and forced marriage.
"In the same time period as this report, Savera UK saw a 36 per cent increase in referrals into our service. This lack of alignment between the patterns we are observing suggests a number of underlying challenges.
"One is a persisting reluctance for people at risk or those concerned about others to report HBA offences to police. This may be out of fear for reprisal or consequences, which needs to be addressed by well-funded community engagement led by specialist organisations in this field. It may also be the fear of not being believed, the issues not being understood, or the high risk of harm that is characteristic of HBA and harmful practices not being recognised.
"Today's data suggests that there is still a lack of understanding and education"
"The ability to differentiate between HBA and other forms of domestic violence, and respond appropriately, is a challenge that has been reported by professionals through our engagement and training provision.
"In recent years we have seen an improvement in identification of and response to HBA offences by police and other statutory services, however today’s data suggests that there is still a lack of understanding and education. As a result, HBA offences may be slipping through the gaps due to cases not being properly identified, or if they are, properly recorded.
"What is reported is only the tip of the iceberg"
"A statutory definition for HBA, which our sector has repeatedly called for, would greatly improve identification, offer better protection for people at risk and improve data collection which would create better understanding of HBA and allow us to work more effectively to end it for good. For the same reason, a mechanism for all agencies and services to centrally report incidents of HBA could enormously improve data collection and research. The disparity in police data and what specialist services are seeing really does raise a question mark over if current recording systems are fit for purpose.
"Despite the decrease in reports revealed in today’s data, we know that what is reported and even what we see on the front line is only the tip of the iceberg. We will continue to work with the government, statutory and voluntary services and communities to end HBA and harmful practices for good."
You can read the data in full here.