BEDFORDSHIRE police is calling for victims of forced marriage within the county to seek support as part of its 16 days of action against domestic abuse.  Around 8,000 to 10,000 forced marriages occur each year within the UK and it remains grossly under-reported. Last year Bedfordshire Police had 149 reports of honour based abuse or […]

Integrate Bristol is one of just 20 organisations from around the world to receive an inaugural With and For Girls Award. The award is part of a global initiative to identify and support local organisations working with and for girls. Integrate Bristol, based in Redfield, was recognised for its work to promote gender equality and raise awareness about […]

Emma* is 11 and uses phrases like “the best that I am able” when asked by an adult if she will answer their questions. Strikingly intelligent, the western Sydney daughter of African and Indian migrants can recall in vivid detail everything that happened on a recent school excursion, right down to the detailing on pottery […]

Blake Lively may have shuttered her platform Preserve, but that hasn’t stopped the star from speaking out about things she thinks are important—including protecting and supporting women. Today on Instagram, Lively launched an initiative to call attention to FGM—female genital mutilation—a procedure that involves removing parts or all of a woman’s genitals for non-medical reasons. It’s long been practiced in […]

Statistics from a Freedom of Information request to the Met revealed that Newham had 59 reports of honour related crime since 2010. According to the figures, the borough came joint second with neighbouring Redbridge for the number of reported honour crimes in London, while Brent topped the list with 82 incidents. Sudarshan Bhuhi, chief executive […]

Three Asian men who carried out an ‘honour attack’ on the boyfriend of one of their sisters have all avoided prison terms. Kasim Ali, 25, and his cousins Adeel Ali, 20, and Razi Khalid, 18, targeted Aquib Baig because their family did not approve of him seeing their sister, a court was told. They rammed his […]

Wednesday 28/10/2015 Noreen Riaz states – due to our model of delivery and case work, we are able to draw upon expertise and situations which can highlight specific issues for victims. This allows tailored training for a range of professionals based on sector specific needs. Today, we are in London providing a programme to Refuge and […]

ONE in ten reports of a suspected forced marriage in the UK come from concerned communities in Yorkshire and the Humber, new statistics show. As a dangerous window of opportunity approaches for women and men to be taken abroad against their will during half term, the Government is today launching a video with the message […]

Forced marriages and child brides may sound far-fetched in Europe. A true story from the Netherlands dispels this notion. Women’s aid organizations expect that Germany will soon be confronted with these issues. On the photo the Dutch police is using to find her, Fatema wears a chic, leopard-print headscarf. She gazes seriously and defiantly at […]