Honour based abuse and forced marriages are both illegal in the UK and can lead to arrests and court orders.
- If you're in immediate danger call 999
- Call 101 in a non-emergency
What's Honour Based Abuse?
Honour Based Abuse is any crime or incident that's been done to protect or defend the honour of a family or community.
Crimes can include:
- harassment
- assault
- false imprisonment
- threats to kill
- rape
- murder
There's no 'honour' in these crimes and it's abuse of a person's human rights.
It happens with some approval from family/community members and is a response to behaviour they think is immoral or shameful.
What's forced marriage?
People often think forced marriage is like arranged marriage but the 2 are different.
- In arranged marriages the families of both spouses take a leading role in arranging the marriage but the choice whether to accept the arrangement is up to the individuals.
- In forced marriages at least 1 party doesn't consent to the marriage and some physical, extreme emotional or psychological pressure is used.
Forced Marriage Protection Orders
The victim or a third party such as the police can apply for a Forced Marriage Protection Order at The High Court or a designated County Court (Luton is the nearest one for Hertfordshire cases). The Orders are tailored to individual circumstances and can include taking travel documents or passports away. If someone breaches the Order they can be arrested or taken to court.