Professionals

‘I told the doctor everything. Shortly after, when I was at school, social services came round. They asked my mother about the abuse and she denied everything. Social services left and never came back. That day I got beaten up and couldn't open my jaw for two weeks. I learnt not to ask for help again’ – Gita

Every year hundreds of British children go missing from the school register to be flown out of the UK and married to people they’ve never seen.

Indeed, one of the more tragic statistics from our work to date is the one third of callers to our help line who are under the age of 16.

Abandoning victims to the fate of a forced marriage means leaving them to cope with unimaginable personal suffering, cruelty and abuse: like systematic rape, enforced pregnancy, isolation, imprisonment and domestic violence – to name just a few.

Though we hear about these cases time and time again, the sheer inhumanity of the treatment meted out to honour and forced marriage victims by their families – in many cases, their parents - never loses its power to shock.

And we’re not the only ones who are shocked. The methods used to kill and torture victims in so-called ‘honour killings’ have caused deep revulsion in parts of the world which are committed to upholding the integrity of the individual and the value of human life. The idea that these abuses are happening in the UK can seem to be unreal.

So, as a professional, the first thing we need you to be aware of is this: whatever your previous views on the subject of forced marriage and honour-based violence, put them firmly behind you and ask yourself: how would I feel if this was happening to me, or my sister, or my son?

Keep hold of that thought for a moment. Sometime now the realisation should be dawning on you that no one should have to suffer abuse in the name of ‘culture’.

The idea – indeed, the very strange idea – of causing offence to minorities has been fostered largely by the perpetrators of these appalling offences, and has absolutely nothing to do with the prevailing view that is now, at long last, shared by politicians, policy-makers and the police; namely, that this has nothing to do with culture and everything to do with abuse.

So breathe a sigh of relief. You no longer have to bury your real concerns under the oppressive burden of a pc-agenda. That agenda is no more. And good riddance.

In recent years there has been cross-party backing for measures to end honour violence.

Everyone from David Cameron to David Miliband has come out to condemn the practice of forced marriage – a practice which continues unabated in pockets of our country.

At long last, honour abuse is no longer a closed issue; no longer out of bounds.

Politicians are saying that multicultural sensitivity can never be an excuse for moral blindness - which is what we’ve been saying for years.

Now that the political climate is right, it’s time for an update on best practice in cases of honour-based violence. Click on the options right of the page for your dos and don’ts.