Savera UK, a leading charity working to end ‘honour’-based abuse (HBA) and harmful practices including female genital mutilation (FGM), forced marriage and conversion ‘therapy’ has revealed new research in partnership with the University of Liverpool, examining perpetrator types in HBA cases.
The research identifies three perpetrator subtypes and associated risks and abuse characteristics, which could “help challenge the current system” and improve identification and response to HBA.
‘Honour’ and Its Upholders: Perpetrator Types in ‘Honour’-Based Abuse, was published last month by Routledge in the Journal of Forensic Psychology Research and Practice. It builds on a previous academic study by the charity (Ridley et al 2022) examining survivor, perpetrator, and abuse characteristics, which identified emotional/psychological abuse and coercive control as the most common characteristic of HBA.
The new research investigated if the various HBA characteristics correlated with different types of perpetrator-survivor relationships. Using the same data set from its first descriptive study, Savera UK identified three perpetrator subtypes: Intimate partner only, family only and intimate partner and family.
Researchers say that the identification of the three perpetrator subtypes, along with associated risks and abuse characteristics could “help challenge the current system, which often fails to recognise different abusive behaviours of HBA”.
The intimate partner subtype was the most common perpetrator type in cases analysed in the study (42.1%). Within this subtype all perpetrators were male and the main abuse characteristics identified were intimate partner violence (92.5%), specific cultural traditions (97.3%), gender-based socialisation (100%) and psychological abuse and coercive control (100%).
The second most common perpetrator was family only, present in 30.8% of cases examined. In 12 of these cases all perpetrators were male, but 17 cases revealed the presence of both male and female perpetrators. There were no cases with female-only perpetrators in this subtype.
Clear examples of risk factors emerged in this group, including examples of behaviours considered to be ’shameful’, such as “flirting” in public, converting religion or engaging in premarital sex. Core abuse characteristics identified in this group included the prevalence of specific cultural traditions (100%) and gender-based socialisation (93.8%). The presence of multiple perpetrators (93.8%) was also much higher in this subtype compared with the overall sample (63.1%).
The final subtype identified in this study, intimate partner and family combined, was present in 27.1% of cases examined. In these cases seven had all male perpetrators, while 22 had both male and female perpetrators. Once again, there were no cases with only female perpetrators.
There was again a high presence of gender-based socialisation (100%) and specific cultural traditions (96.6%) as abuse characteristics. Combined perpetrators also linked to a significantly higher number of risk factors such as perpetrators with history of violence, forced marriage, mental health illness, self-harm, and statutory and voluntary agencies’ lack of understanding around HBA compared with the other two subtypes. Cases in this subtype also saw a far greater number of abuse characteristics than the other two, 19 on average.
Across all subtypes survivors and perpetrators were aged 25 – 50 years on average. The majority of survivors were female. In the cases of male survivors, Savera UK’s Direct Intervention team had recorded notable levels of abuse around sexuality and gender identity.
The findings of the study highlighted unique features of HBA, such as the high prevalence of multiple perpetrators in the family only subtype, which may reflect the perpetration of HBA as protecting or defending the ‘honour’ of a family or community.
In such cases, absence of action could be considered approval of actions considered unacceptable within the community, so individuals become involved in perpetration to protect their own positions and demonstrate commitment to ‘honour’ codes.
Another unique feature of HBA, not present in cases of domestic abuse, highlighted by the study, was the presence of female perpetrators in the family and intimate partner and family subtypes.
Females play a pivotal role in the transmission of cultural traditions and are often required to carry the “burden of representation” as symbols of a culture’s collective identity and ‘honour’ (Yuval-Davis 2000). For example mothers are responsible for teaching their daughters ‘acceptable’ behaviour and punishing them if they breach codes of conduct.
That there were no female only perpetrators identified in this study, further reveals the role of females in the perpetration of HBA. The study concluded that female perpetrators’ tendency to only offend with male perpetrators may be a result of the females’ desire to gain protection, authority, recognition or approval from their community, known as “patriarchal bargaining” (Idriss, 2017).
Despite research showing that female relatives and community members play a key role in HBA, frontline staff also often fail to recognise and implicate them in HBA offences, due to the myth that women are nurturing, non-abusive or may be a victim themselves. Another area where professionals were identified by the study as exhibiting a lack of understanding of HBA was when dealing with cases perpetrated by both intimate partners and family.
Despite patterns indicating that when HBA is perpetrated by this subgroup there is a potential cumulative effect and risks are more likely to exponentially increase, professionals often failed to recognise the full extent of the abuse and the contribution of extended family or community members, in addition to that of the intimate partner or taking victim vulnerabilities into account.
This may be due to many agencies viewing HBA as a form of domestic abuse (DA) or another form of VAWG (Reddy, 2014), and not recognising it may involve multiple perpetrators.
Speaking of the study, Savera UK CEO and Founder, Afrah Qassim, said: “There is still such limited research into HBA, its survivors, perpetrators and root causes, which may contribute to why so many cases are missed or not responded to appropriately. It is an area that desperately needs focus, which is why we continue to conduct research in this area in partnership with the University of Liverpool and others.
“The findings of this study highlight areas where professional training and responses need to improve and can support effective recommendations for practice and training for frontline staff working with survivors and individuals at risk of harm.
“Adopting an evidence-based approach when dealing with HBA can greatly enhance professional judgement. This study’s evidence of three different perpetrator types can inform both priority-perpetrator identification and survivor support, through the implementation of targeted investigations and tailored interventions, respectively, rather than the current one-size-fits-all approach.
“The identification of different perpetrator types will also help challenge the current system, which often fails to recognise different abusive behaviours of HBA. With greater understanding professionals will be better equipped to recognise ‘honour’-based abuse and to safeguard vulnerable individuals from the very people who are meant to nurture them the most.”
Louise Almond, Professor in Investigative and Forensic Psychology, Education lead for the Institute of Population Health and Programme Director for the MSc in Investigative and Forensic Psychology at the University of Liverpool, said: “The partnership between Savera UK and the University of Liverpool provides an important opportunity to leverage our collective expertise to address the critical issues facing some of our most vulnerable communities.
“By joining forces we have combined research methodologies with on the ground insight to provide actionable solutions. This research is part of a series of studies which aims to provide tailored evidence based findings which can be implemented by practitioners in the field.”
Read the full paper here: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/24732850.2024.2390872
