Data released today (November 7th 2024) by the Home Office has revealed an eight percent decrease in ‘honour-based’ abuse (HBA) offences reported to police in the year ending March 2024.
The publication recorded 2,755 HBA-related offences reported by the police in England and Wales, which is down from 3,008 recorded to the year ending March 2023. Although HBA offences reported were down overall the number of FGM offences increased slightly to 111 this year (vs 86 in 2022/23), as were forced marriage offences, which increased to 201 this year (vs 173 in 2022/23).
Responding to an initial review of the annual data, 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.
“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.
“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.”
