8 December 2015

The depths of dishonour: Hidden voices and shameful crimes

'Every police force must improve its understanding of honour-based violence, forced marriage and female genital mutilation.' (HMIC, 2015)


The police must better understand honour-based violence, forced marriage and female genital mutilation in order to provide victims with the best possible service and encourage those affected to come forward, a report from Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) found today.

Honour-based violence is the term used to refer to a collection of practices used predominantly to control the behaviour of women and girls within families or other social groups in order to protect supposed cultural and religious beliefs, values and social norms in the name of ‘honour’. This is the first inspection by HMIC of the police service of England and Wales to focus on honour-based violence.

The report, ‘The depths of dishonour: Hidden voices and shameful crimes’, examines the approach of police forces in England and Wales in relation to the protection of people from harm caused by honour-based violence, forced marriage and female genital mutilation, and at supporting victims of these offences.

The report is published on the HMIC website together with the results of a research project, which includes the first-hand experiences of victims of honour-based violence. This research was carried out by the University of Bristol and in collaboration with the University of Roehampton, on behalf of HMIC, to inform this inspection.