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Archive for the ‘Honour Based Abuse’ Category

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Law ‘failing’ victims of honour-based violence

Published: February 19th, 2019 Updated: December 1st, 2021

Agreements with foreign governments to investigate suspected killings abroad should be used to eradicate honour-based violence, campaigners have told MPs.

Legal agreements governing the detection, investigation and prosecution of “honour killings” committed abroad could pave the way for families of UK victims to achieve justice and send a strong message to the perpetrators that they would be vigorously pursued, a report said yesterday.

The report from the law school at Manchester Metropolitan University recommended that “caste” be specifically introduced to the concept of race under civil and criminal law and hate crime legislation, pointing to the link between caste and honour-based violence and forced marriages.

“No one should suffer violence or abuse because they belong to a different race or caste,” the report’s authors said.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/law-failing-victims-of-honour-based-violence-wdwktgwhl

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FGM fears grow as number of at-risk or affected UK children doubles

Published: December 3rd, 2018 Updated: December 3rd, 2018

London (CNN)Concerns about female genital mutilation, or FGM, are rising in the UK after the number of children who’ve had the procedure or are at risk of it more than doubled in the past year.

Social workers carrying out assessments in 2017-2018 classified 1,960 children as either having undergone or being at risk of FGM.
The figure marks a sharp rise from the previous year, when 970 cases were identified.
The true number of at-risk children is likely to be far higher, as the practice remains widely under-reported, warned the Local Government Association, or LGA, which analyzed government records for its findings. The LGA did not offer a reason for the apparent increase in at-risk children, but noted that awareness has increased and social workers can identify it quicker than before.
Incidents of child abuse related to faith or belief, including witchcraft and spirit possession, were found to have risen by 12%. Last year, there were 1,630 cases of such abuse, the LGA said, an increase from 1,460 the year before.
The findings demonstrate “the worrying prevalence of FGM, which is ruining lives and destroying communities,” said Anita Lower of the LGA.
“At a time when they should be preparing for adult life and enjoying being young, no girl or young woman should be subject to the horrors of genital mutilation, which is child abuse and cannot be justified for any reason,” Lower added.
Between April 2017 and March 2018, almost 5,000 women and girls in the UK were newly identified as victims of FGM, according to the National Health Service.
Figures of children identified as being at risk were not collected before 2016-2017, so annual rates can only be compared over the past two years.

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‘Rejected by my family, raped – but proud to be gay’

Published: December 3rd, 2018 Updated: December 3rd, 2018

Seyeda has been rejected by her family, abused and raped because she is gay – but is determined to be out and proud.

The 42-year-old from Pakistan believes she would have been killed if she had not moved to the UK.

“I can’t even imagine (what would have happened). I don’t think I would be alive there.

“But there is no looking back. If people are harassing me, I need to make myself more strong.”

Seyeda – whose parents died before they discovered her sexuality – was under pressure from an early age to marry a cousin.

“I didn’t want to because I knew of my orientation,” she told BBC Radio 5 Live Investigates.

A new report from LGBT domestic abuse charity Galop reveals around one in four of the cases seen by their advocacy service has been abused by family members – while one in ten is at risk of ‘honour-based’ violence or forced marriage.

‘Bad time’

University provided no escape for Seyeda. After a supervisor discovered her sexuality, she says she was forced off her PhD programme, and left without accommodation.

“I didn’t have anywhere to stay,” she explained. “If you are a woman on your own in Pakistan, you can’t live anywhere.

“I have uncles and aunts in Pakistan, and I was begging to stay (with them). But they weren’t ready to (let me) – and I was not ready to get married in the way they wanted me to.

“Once the extended family came to know about my sexuality, I had a bad time.”

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-46402267

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Murder accused Mitesh Patel cheated on wife to meet men for sex, potential jurors told

Published: November 15th, 2018 Updated: November 15th, 2018

Mitesh Patel is standing trial accused of wife Jessica’s murder  The husband of an alleged murder victim was unfaithful to his wife – having met men for sexual intercourse.

Mitesh Patel, 37, is due to stand trial accused of the murder of his wife Jessica Patel, with whom he ran a pharmacy in Roman Road, Linthorpe.

The 34-year-old was found dead at their home in The Avenue on May 14.

A potential jury at Teesside Crown Court was brought into the court room to hear details of the case from the High Court Judge, Mr Justice Goss.

During a short speech he told the courtroom that Patel had been cheating on his wife with men he had met on the internet site Grindr.

He said: “This case concerns the circumstances surrounding the death of Jessica Patel in her home in Linthorpe, Middlesbrough, on May 14 of this year.

https://www.gazettelive.co.uk/news/teesside-news/murder-accused-mitesh-patel-cheated-15409286

“Her husband Mitesh Patel, who is the gentleman in the suit sitting there in the dock, is charged with her murder.

“Both of them worked as pharmacists and owned and ran the pharmacy on Roman Road, Linthorpe.

“It is agreed that during the course of the marriage, the defendant Mitesh Patel had been unfaithful to his wife, including having met men for sexual intercourse.

“Some of them he met using a social networking site called Grindr.”

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Forced marriage: Leeds parents jailed over Bangladesh wedding

Published: July 31st, 2018 Updated: July 31st, 2018

A husband and wife have been jailed for tricking their daughter into travelling to Bangladesh in order to force her into marriage.

The couple were described as “monsters” by their daughter who they had threatened to kill if she did not go ahead with the arrangement.

The father was jailed for four-and-a-half years and the mother for three-and-a-half years at Leeds Crown Court.

None of those involved in the case can be named.

More stories from Yorkshire

The then 18-year-old daughter had to be rescued from a remote village in an operation by the British High Commission involving armed police, the judge heard,

The woman, who is from Leeds and is now aged 20, described in a victim impact statement how she had assumed a new identity and lived in fear of her family.

She said: “I know I will always have to remain cautious but, knowing those monsters are going to be in prison, I feel the uttermost freedom in my heart.

“I want other girls to know that forcing someone to marry is wrong.”

‘Chop her up’

The woman was taken to Bangladesh with other family members for what they had been told was a holiday.

But the parents had made extensive plans for her wedding to a first cousin.

She reacted against the plan and her father hit her, with her mother’s encouragement, the court heard.

Her father said he would “chop her up in 18 seconds” if she continued to reject the proposed marriage, the judge was told.

The woman managed to alert the police through her boyfriend in the UK and the court was played some of the messages she left on his phone.

Judge Simon Phillips QC said of the recordings: “Her terror and distress is palpable.”

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leeds-45010987

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Somali father defends FGM after daughter, 10, dies

Published: July 24th, 2018 Updated: July 24th, 2018

The father of a 10-year-old girl who died after undergoing female genital mutilation (FGM) in Somalia has defended the practice.

Dahir Nur’s daughter died of blood loss on 17 July, two days after being taken to a traditional circumciser.

But he told Voice of America (VOA) “people in the area are content” with FGMeven considering the dangers, adding it is the country’s “culture”.

According to Unicef, 98% of girls and women in Somalia have undergone FGM.

This is despite Somalia’s constitution prohibiting – although not outlawing – the practice, which involves the partial or total removal of the female external genitalia or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons and can cause profound health problems.

Dr Abdirahman Omar Hassan, director of Hanano hospital in the city of Dhusamareb, told VoA he had never seen “anyone who was mutilated like that in my life”.

Dr Hassan, who was on the team who tried to save the girl, also revealed she had caught tetanus, most likely from the unsterilised equipment used during the original procedure.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-44918795

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Arrests and prosecutions alone will not end the problem of FGM

Published: July 17th, 2018 Updated: July 17th, 2018

Arrests and prosecutions alone will not end the problem of FGM, said a police inspector speaking at the National FGM Centre’s annual conference, this week.

More preventative work with affected communities is needed in order to end the harmful practice, the audience heard.

Inspector Allen Davis, from the Metropolitan Police Service, told the audience: “There are a number of challenges to securing convictions.

“Prosecutions alone aren’t going to change anything. They are symbolic but we’re not going to be able to arrest our way out of the problem.

“But prosecutions do send out a very strong message to communities that it’s illegal and they act as a deterrent for people thinking about taking their daughter abroad to undergo FGM, or having it done in this country.”

He said barriers to reporting FGM to the police include children being unlikely to ‘tell on their parents’, or being too young to remember what happened and professionals failing to report information.

Difficulties in securing a conviction include issues such as pressure from the community on the family involved, and the challenge to secure an admission of guilt, said Inspector Davis.

https://www.charitytoday.co.uk/arrests-and-prosecutions-alone-will-not-end-the-problem-of-fgm/

 

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I was a victim of forced marriage

Published: July 17th, 2018 Updated: July 17th, 2018

Anusha*

I always knew I would be forced to marry somebody I barely knew and didn’t love. In my family, being a woman was all about being somebody else’s property – first you belong to your parents, then your husband. I was an object, expected to wait on men and produce children.

It is an experience shared by the 3,500 people who have reported forced marriage to the police within the past three years – and the thousands more suffering in silence.

There is a difference between forced and arranged marriages. The latter is a marriage set up by family members of two people over the age of 18, who can both choose whether or not to participate. This becomes a forced marriage if either partner is unwilling or unable to give permission.

In the UK, forced marriage is illegal and has been since 2014. This includes if people are taking someone abroad or bringing them into this country for this reason. Yet, in England, it’s believed that only one in 30 suspected forced marriages leads to a prosecution, and it’s clear many cases are still flying under the radar.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcthree/article/772ba2fc-2f1a-4db6-95fd-a58c0f0aca39

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‘Honour based’ abuse is targeted by police after shock number of cases in Slough are revealed

Published: July 3rd, 2018 Updated: October 17th, 2022

Police are warning that culture and tradition are no excuse for ‘honour based’ abuse – after the shock revelation that more than a quarter of reported examples in the last four years happened in Slough.

From this week Thames Valley police will be focussing on the issue as part of their ongoing Hidden Harm campaign.

Detective Superintendent Nick John said that 300 of the 1,200 cases of ‘honour based’ abuse dealt with by Thames Valley Police had been in or around the town.

He said: “For the first two weeks of July we’ll be focusing on both raising awareness of this crime and the signs to look out for as well as building confidence in victims themselves to recognise that they are being abused and to seek help.

“There are a number of different ways honour based abuse can manifest itself. For example, someone may be abused by their family for being in a relationship with a person of the same sex or from a different culture.

“They may not want to take part in an arranged marriage or they may be simply wearing clothing or taking part in activities not considered ‘traditional’.

“The abuse doesn’t have to be physical, it can be emotional or sexual and may involve threats of violence, false imprisonment, stalking, forced marriage and in some cases even murder.

“Honour based abuse is not about religion. It’s to do with beliefs and customs and an expectation that an individual should behave in a certain way or they will bring shame or dishonour on their family or the wider community.”

He emphasised the campaign was not about singling out any particular faith or culture but getting people to understand that it was abuse.

“It’s also about reassuring victims to come forward and talk to us and not to wait until a crime has actually taken place before they do.”

http://www.windsorobserver.co.uk/news/16325315.honour-based-abuse-is-targeted-by-police-after-shock-number-of-cases-in-slough-are-revealed/

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