‘Honour’ abuse, violence, and forced marriage in the UK. Police cases (incidents and charges) and specialised training: 2018 and 2019.

Abstract

This report marks the 15th anniversary of the tragic and avoidable death of Banaz Mahmod. A young woman living in London, Banaz was the victim of Britain’s most notorious so-called ‘honour’ killing. The police handling of her case was fraught with incompetence, oversight, error, and lack of cultural awareness. Numerous times, in the months leading up to her murder, Banaz reported her abuse to the police, even warning them that she would be murdered. She went as far as writing down the names of her killers. 1 An investigation by the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) after her death found that two police forces had failed Banaz. This report presents the number of ‘honour’ based abuse and violence (HBA/V), including forced marriage cases, recorded by 38 police forces across the UK, and their engagement in specialised training, for 2018 and 2019.