Honour Based Violence

This guidance is for all practitioners (paid or unpaid) who work with children (including the unborn child), those who work with adults who are parents/carers and who therefore hold responsibility for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children. It is intended to be read alongside the Children and Young People (Jersey) Law 2022, the commensurate Statutory Guidance 2024 and the Jersey Children’s First Framework (JCF). Practitioners must follow the Statutory Guidance on sharing information (which follows the Data Protection (Jersey) Law 2018) and follow SPB Child Protection Procedures and the SPB Children and Young People Safeguarding Referrals Procedure.

HBV is a term used to describe incidents or crimes committed to protect or defend the honour of a family and/or the community. The abuse includes sexual abuse, rape, physical assault, financial abuse, isolation, harassment, threats to kill and murder. HBV often includes Forced Marriage and can include Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) (See Female Genital Mutilation and Forced Marriage).

Used to control behaviour within families or other social groups to protect perceived cultural and religious beliefs. Such violence can occur when perpetrators perceive that a relative has shamed the family and / or community by breaking their honour code. HBV includes domestically abusive behaviours and include a wider network and multiple perpetrators. Women, children and young people in a family can all be involved in experiencing abuse. Men, women and the wider community, can be involved in committing HBV. A proportion of people living within honour based cultures, which can include practitioners, endorse honour based abuse. The United Nations (UN) defines violence against women and girls (VAWG) as any act of gender-based violence directed against a woman because she is female. Men and boys can be affected by HBV e.g., those who identify as LGBTQ+ or are felt to have associated with ‘dishonourable’ women.

Women and girls are disproportionately targeted and impacted (Home Office & Foreign and Commonwealth Office 2017; Swegman 2016 cited in SafeLives). HBV is caused and consequence of unequal female status. In Jersey, the minister for Justice and Home Affairs established a taskforce to tackle violence against women and girls (VAWG - “It’s a hidden problem” 2022). This shone a light on the nature, extent and very real issue of violence against women and girls in Jersey, which includes sexual abuse.

It is important that practitioners are alert to the context, victims live in, when working on 
HBV cases. Victims will mainly be women and girls, and in this are subjected to multiple forms of abuse, understanding this helps to ensure practitioners are alert to their vulnerabilities and support needs and are better able to respond appropriately.

There are several ways children and young people can be abused by HBV, they may be the child of the victim, they can be the victim of forced marriage and HBV. They can be exposed to inter-generational, intra and extra familial violence and abuse and they can be manipulated and coerced into being involved in the abuse themselves.

Children and Young People may find themselves in an abusive and dangerous situation against their will with no power to seek help. The usual avenues for seeking help – through parents or other family members, or their community – unavailable to them.

Online targeting of victims is being used more frequently as a means of control and exploitation. 
The notion of the shame and associated risk to the victim may persist long after the incident that brought so called dishonour. This means any new partner of the victim, children, associates or their siblings may be at serious risk of significant harm.

Examples of perceived immoral behaviours which transgress concepts of honour include:

• Inappropriate make-up or dress, ’western’ adoption of dress or make up;
• The existence of a new relationship, or the perceived existence of a boyfriend / girlfriend, same-sex relationship, inter-faith or same faith different ethnicity relationship;
• Rejecting a forced marriage;
• Pregnancy outside of marriage;
• Being a victim of rape;
• The victim is LGBTQ+;
• Leaving a spouse or seeking divorce;
• Kissing or intimacy in a public place;
• Alcohol and/or drug use.

It is important to be mindful that young people may be subject to HBV for reasons which may seem improbable or minor to others.

See The Continuum of Children’s Needs – as guidance to help practitioners identify a child’s level of need and how to respond appropriately.

Awareness a child or young person is the victim of HBV may only become known after an assault has taken place e.g. an allegation of domestic abuse or it may be that a child is reported as missing, or the parent of the child discloses they are a victim of HBV. There are inherent risks to the act of disclosure for the victim and limited opportunities to ask for help for fear of retribution from their family or community.

Murders in the name of ‘honour’ are often a culmination of a series of events over a period and are planned. There tends to be a degree of pre-meditation, family conspiracy and a belief that the victim deserves to die. Forms of HBV:

• Stalking, sexual, psychological and economic abuse see Power and Control Wheel;
• Honour killing, revenge rape and gang rape (extreme forms of violence);
• Acid attacks;
• Forced suicide;
• Extortion and Kidnapping.

There may be evidence of domestic abuse, including controlling, coercive and dominating behaviour towards the victim. Family disputes, and unreasonable restrictions such as removal of forms of communication, phones and computers. Removal from education, no access to friends, removal of passport or virtual imprisonment within the home. Young people may be fearful of being forced into engagement/marriage, where young girls have been brought to countries of their family’s origin for a holiday never to return to the UK.

Continual assessment and review are paramount as circumstances can change very quickly, following disclosure the risks to the victim and others who are supporting the victim increase.

Young people may face significant harm if their families / communities realise that they have asked for help. All aspects of their safety need to be carefully assessed at every stage. Initially this needs to address whether it is safe for them to return home following a disclosure. The young person will need practical help such as accommodation and financial support, as well as emotional support and information about their rights and choices.

Some families go to considerable lengths to find children who run away, and young people who leave home are at risk of significant harm if they are returned to their family. They may be reported as missing by their families, but no mention is made of the reason. If HBV is suspected, it is important practitioners explore the underlying reasons and consider safety planning before decisions are made to return the child or young person home.

Victims with learning or physical disability may be more vulnerable to abuse. Vulnerabilities may include (not exhaustive):

• Dependency on a carer;
• Financial dependency;
• Social isolation.

When receiving a disclosure from a child or young person, practitioners should recognise the seriousness and immediacy of the risk of harm. Any child or young person who discloses HBV is at significant risk of physical harm (including being murdered), neglect and may also suffer multiple forms of abuse as already discussed. 

For a child or young person to report to any agency that they have fears of HBV in respect of themselves or a family member requires a lot of courage, and trust that the professional/agency they disclose to will respond appropriately. Under no circumstances should the agency allow the children or young person’s family or social network find out about the disclosure, so as not to put them at further risk of harm.

Authorities in some countries may support the practice of HBV and the child may be concerned that other agencies share this view, or that they will be returned to their family.

The child may be carrying guilt about their rejection of cultural/family expectations. Furthermore, their immigration status may be dependent on their family, which could be used to dissuade them from seeking assistance.

Where there is a disclosure or suspicion of HBV, staff in all agencies/organisations should respond immediately. Where there is immediate risk, call directly to the police on 999.

Where a child (including an unborn child) or young person presents with a health or development need) or where there is a  safeguarding Need (see Statutory Guidance – Levels of Need) practitioners must:

• Follow the SPB Child Protection Procedures, the SPB Children and Young People 
  Safeguarding Referrals Procedure (remembering that advice must be sought from Children’s Social Work/Police before informing parents/carers in this situation);
• Refer to the Children and Families Hub;
• In parallel refer an adult or young person with their consent to supportive domestic abuse services;
• Where a child may have been physically abused, suffered neglect or sexual abuse consideration must be given to following the Child Protection Medical Pathway and/or the Child Sexual Abuse Pathway;
• Where HBV is related to an Adult at Risk, practitioners must raise a safeguarding concern with referral to the Single Point of Referral for Adults at risk of harm.

Staff in all agencies should make full records of any conversation with the young person and ensure that they complete an accurate account of what is said.

The social care and police response should include:

• Seeing the child immediately in a secure and private place;
• Seeing the child on their own;
• Explaining to the child the limits of confidentiality;
• Asking direct questions to gather enough information to make a referral to Children’s Social Care and the police, including the child’s wishes;
• Encouraging and/or helping the child to complete a personal risk assessment;
• Developing an emergency safety plan with the child;
• Agreeing a means of discreet future contact with the child explaining that a referral to Children’s Social Care and the Police will be made;
• Practitioners must record all discussions and decisions (including rationale if no decision is made to refer to Children’s Social Care and/or Police.;
• A strategy discussion/meeting should be held following this referral. The strategy discussion/meeting will include representatives from agencies involved with the child/young person and this includes Children’s Services, police, education and health. It is important that the person who has identified the concern is available to attend. This allows all information to be shared and safeguarding actions to be put in place;
• Where a child may have been physically abused, suffered neglect or sexual abuse consideration must be given to following the Child Protection Medical Pathway and/or the Child Sexual Abuse Pathway;
• Where HBV is related to a vulnerable adult, practitioners should carefully raise a safeguarding concern;
• With referral to the Single Point of Referral for adults at risk of harm.

Accurate record keeping in all cases of abuse in the name of honour is important (please see SPB Record Keeping).

Records should:

• Be accurate, detailed, clear and include date, time and author identifier;
• Use the person’s own words in quotation marks;
• Document injuries – include photographs, body maps or pictures of injuries;
• Only be available to those directly involved in the person’s case.

Practitioners must take care that information which increases the risk to the child or young person is not inadvertently shared with family members or another person purporting to “support” the family or child.

Practitioners must take care that information which increases the risk to the child or young person is not inadvertently shared with family members. All agencies and practitioners working around or with the child must be info of the need to maintain strict confidentiality in relation to the family network: great care must be taken to manage information about the whereabouts of the child or young person.

Practitioners should not approach the family or community leaders, share information with them or attempt any form of mediation. In particular, members of the local community should not use interpreters.

The multi-agency must recognise police responsibility to initiate and undertake criminal investigation where appropriate.

It is essential to consider other siblings in the family that may be experiencing, or at risk of, the same abuse. 
Multi-agency planning should consider the need for providing suitable safe accommodation for the child, as appropriate.

If the child is taken off island, Border Force Agencies may be able to assist with repatriation of the child to Jersey/UK.

Referring agencies where possible should assess risk of harm using a dedicated assessment tool e.g. the DASH Risk Checklist.

Practitioners should work in a culturally sensitive way, the culture around justification for abuse linked to HBV based in tradition, custom, faith, honour, religion, thoughts beliefs and values. Cultural competence does not mean ignoring or excusing practices that are against Jersey Law, or that cause or risk causing significant harm to children and young people. Please see NSPCC briefing on Culture and Faith: learning from case reviews. Where published case reviews highlight practitioners sometimes lack the knowledge and confidence to work with families from diverse cultures and religions. A lack of understanding of the religion or cultural context of families can lead to practitioners accepting lower standards for fear of being seen to practice without cultural competence.

Challenge must be made on any attempt to justify harm on cultural or religious grounds. Where it is essential practitioners remain focused on the health, development and welfare of the child or young person and that their rights and needs remain paramount.

Assessments should explore the impact of a person’s culture on their life, including spiritual practices, rites/blessings, beliefs and practices surrounding life events, dietary restrictions, personal care, daily rituals, communication social customs and attitudes to health care and support. Practitioners who are unsure should seek support from their safeguarding leads.

Practitioners should have access to regular Internal Agency Safeguarding Supervision. Agencies should consider multi-agency reflective supervision where cases are complex, stuck or drifting.

Professional challenge should be welcomed and partnership working depends on resolving professional difference and conflict as soon as possible. Where staff experience professional differences, they must follow the SPB Resolving Professional Difference/Escalation Policy.

Addressing the needs of the individual is key, as victims of HBV require a tailored response dependent on a number of factors including e.g. language and cultural barriers, how long they have been in Jersey, their social and family networks and their economic circumstances.

Children’s Social Work will call Strategy Discussion/Meeting, and seek legal advice where required. Organisations should consider the need to ask for specialist support from mainland UK organisations who have experience in dealing with HBV for example Karma Nirvana see here.

Victims may be isolated due to religious and cultural pressures but may also find themselves, whilst living in Jersey, without housing and with no recourse to public funds.

In high risk cases a Fresh Look Meeting should be called so that decisions outside of normal working practice can be made by senior practitioners to protect the safety of the child or young person, or adult at risk of significant harm.

All practitioners working with victims of HBV need to be aware of the ‘one chance’ rule. That is, they may only have one chance to speak to a potential victim and thus they may only have one chance to save a life. This means that all practitioners working within statutory agencies need to be aware of their responsibilities and obligations when they come across these cases. If the victim is allowed to walk out of the door without support being offered, that one chance might be wasted.

Cultural and religious sensitivity is attached to HBV and this may be reduced by focusing on specific social groups. This would pave the way for community engagement and achieved by adopting the following:

• Encourage conscious efforts to engage targeted social groups to bring change from within. There is a scope for anti-HBV or anti-forced marriage, pledged groups that can lead to sustainable change;
• Ensure a change in attitudes, perceptions, and behaviours of community members, particularly young people, about honour notions;
• Bring a clear understanding of young people concerning family honour and their communication skills to discuss these sensitive issues in a family.

Forced Marriage

Female Genital Mutilation

Karma Nirvana - National Honour Based Abuse & Forced Marriage Helpline for professionals and members of the public 0800 5999247.

Trafficked Children

Forced Marriage Guidance – Home Office – information and practice guidelines for professional protecting, advising and supporting victims. This includes Multi-Agency Statutory Guidance for dealing with forced marriage and multi-Agency practice guidelines

Handling cases of forced marriage.

Legal Guidance – not specifically about children

Multi-agency practice guidelines: Handling cases of Forced Marriage

Forced Marriage and Honour Based Violence Screening Toolkit

SafeLives Dash risk checklist for the identification of high - risk cases of domestic abuse, stalking and ‘honour’ -based violence

Protocol on the handling of ‘so-called’ Honour Based Violence/Abuse and Forced Marriage

Offences between the National Police Chiefs’ Council and the Crown Prosecution Service