New laws aim to protect victims

In a landmark move, the UK government has enacted a new legal definition for ‘honour’-based abuse, part of its flagship Crime and Policing Bill. This decision comes in response to alarming statistics, revealing nearly 3,000 ‘honour’-based abuse related offences recorded by police in England and Wales for the year ending March 2025. Despite these figures, experts suggest that this only exposes a fraction of the actual prevalence, given the hidden and often unreported nature of such abuse.

The new legal framework aims to bolster support for victims while equipping police, social workers, and other authorities with the tools needed to recognise, handle, and prosecute these cases effectively. This approach includes issuing essential statutory guidance for frontline professionals, ensuring they can better safeguard victims and gather vital evidence. By preventing important information from slipping through the cracks, the government hopes to enhance the prosecution of perpetrators.

Support for these reforms has come from over 60 charities, including Karma Nirvana, which has campaigned for these changes since the tragic murder of Fawziyah Javed in 2021. Pregnant and from Leeds, Fawziyah was killed in a brutal act prompted by perceived ‘dishonour’, illustrating the severe consequences of prevalent harmful ideologies regarding honour within certain communities. Her case underscored the imperative need for improved recognition of ‘honour’-based abuse within statutory systems.

Jess Phillips, the Minister for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls, expressed her commitment to confronting these crimes directly. She stated that “there is no honour in ‘honour’-based abuse” and emphasised the misconception and negligence that victims have faced for far too long. Phillips reiterated that the introduction of this new legal definition is a crucial step towards reducing the risks for victims and increasing accountability for offenders.

The new measures cover a range of abusive acts, including honour-motivated killings, female genital mutilation (FGM), and forced marriages—crimes typically shrouded in secrecy. Furthermore, the amendment has successfully made these reforms law throughout England and Wales, aiming to restore public trust in the justice system while tackling violence against women and girls ambitiously.

Natasha Rattu, Executive Director of Karma Nirvana, also welcomed the introduction of the statutory definition. She pointed out that previous ambiguity in legal definitions has allowed for inconsistent recognition and response to these crimes, continuing to place victims in danger while leaving perpetrators unchecked. Rattu called the introduction of this clear legal framework a vital step in enabling professionals across various fields to identify and act upon signs of abuse more proactively.

In an effort to better understand the true extent of such crimes, the Home Office is currently exploring the feasibility of a prevalence study regarding forced marriage and FGM, which was first announced in August. This initiative will support community engagement aimed at encouraging victims to seek help. Together, these efforts seek to uncover the reality of honour-based abuse, ensuring that more victims acquire the support they deserve and that dangerous offenders are brought to justice.

These new legal measures come on the heels of the publication of the Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) Strategy in December, aiming to utilise every governmental lever to protect women and girls and reduce VAWG crimes by half over the next decade.