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The Depths of Dishonour: Hidden Voices and Shameful Crimes

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The Depths of Dishonour: Hidden Voices and Shameful Crimes The depths of dishonour: Hidden voices and shameful crimes An inspection of the police response to honour-based violence, forced marriage and female genital mutilation December 2015 © HMIC 2015 ISBN: 978-1-911194-64-4 www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmic Contents Foreword ................................................................................................................... 5 Summary ................................................................................................................... 8 Recommendations ................................................................................................. 17 1. Introduction ........................................................................................................ 20 Background .......................................................................................................... 20 About this inspection ............................................................................................. 22 About this report ................................................................................................... 26 2. The nature of honour-based violence (HBV), forced marriage (FM) and female genital mutilation (FGM) ............................................................................ 28 Honour-based violence ......................................................................................... 28 Forced marriage ................................................................................................... 30 Female genital mutilation ...................................................................................... 31 3. Published and unpublished data: The extent of HBV offending ................. 33 Published data ...................................................................................................... 33 Unpublished data .................................................................................................. 41 Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 41 4. Legal and policy framework for preventing and tackling HBV .................... 42 The obligations of public authorities...................................................................... 44 Statutory guidance and policy on HBV ................................................................. 47 5. The police role in preventing and responding to HBV ................................. 49 General obligation to keep the peace and prevent crime ...................................... 49 Identifying young people at risk of HBV ................................................................ 49 Powers available to the police .............................................................................. 50 Challenges for policing this type of offending ....................................................... 50 What works? ......................................................................................................... 50 2 6. Police preparedness to protect people from HBV – Phase 1 – desk-top assessment ............................................................................................................. 52 Police ‘preparedness’ for responding to HBV ....................................................... 53 Leadership ............................................................................................................ 55 Awareness and understanding ............................................................................. 57 Protection ............................................................................................................. 63 Enforcement and prevention ................................................................................. 65 Summary of police preparedness ......................................................................... 66 7. Phase 2 fieldwork – leadership ...................................................................... 67 Leadership, governance frameworks and policy in the inspected forces .............. 67 Understanding outcomes ...................................................................................... 69 Partnership working, supporting learning and use of regional or national resources .............................................................................................................................. 70 8. Phase 2 fieldwork – awareness and understanding .................................... 74 Identification ......................................................................................................... 74 Knowledge of local communities .......................................................................... 74 Use of problem profiles ......................................................................................... 75 Community engagement ....................................................................................... 75 Victim engagement project findings: Community engagement ............................. 77 Victim engagement project findings: Factors affecting decision to contact police . 77 Officer understanding and awareness of HBV, FGM and FM .............................. 79 Partnership working to raise awareness and encourage reporting ....................... 81 Partnership working: Sharing information ............................................................. 83 Initial contact ......................................................................................................... 84 Identifying HBV, FM and FGM: training ................................................................ 85 Flagging HBV cases ............................................................................................. 87 House calls/victim engagement ............................................................................ 88 Initial decision-making and actions ....................................................................... 91 3 The victim’s decision to report to police ................................................................ 93 9. Phase 2 fieldwork – protection ...................................................................... 94 Assessment and help ........................................................................................... 94 Responding to victims’ needs and views .............................................................. 97 Multi-agency responses ...................................................................................... 100 Trusted professional ........................................................................................... 104 10. Phase 2 fieldwork – enforcement and prevention .................................. 108 Investigation and specialist support .................................................................... 108 Working with the CPS ......................................................................................... 112 Outcomes ........................................................................................................... 113 Identification and management of those who pose a risk to victims ................... 113 Closure ............................................................................................................... 119 11. Conclusion ................................................................................................. 124 Recommendations ............................................................................................... 132 Annex A – Glossary ............................................................................................. 135 Annex B – Methodology ...................................................................................... 145 Annex C – Expert reference group terms of reference and membership ........ 149 Annex D – Honour-based violence, forced marriage and female genital mutilation: the obligations on public authorities .............................................. 151 Annex E – The nature of HBV: Findings from the literature review ................. 169 Annex F – National agencies involved in preventing and tackling honour-based violence ................................................................................................................. 184 4 Foreword “Many crimes are unreported, sometimes because victims are vulnerable or otherwise afraid. Examples include so-called honour-based violence, domestic violence, sexual offences, and offences against children. In all these cases, barriers of one kind or another exist, and it is the responsibility of the police proactively to look for these crimes, and to devise and implement measures designed to increase the confidence of victims in reporting crime and giving evidence, and to persuade those who erect and maintain those barriers that they will be pursued and prosecuted. Those who knowingly and deliberately create or tolerate the conditions in which crimes are committed and victims are isolated from protection and justice should be given the most potent grounds to fear the criminal law, operated and applied vigorously by the law enforcement institutions of the state.”1 This is the first time that Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) has inspected and reported upon the police service’s response to crimes of honour- based violence, forced marriage and female genital mutilation. Further, it is the first time that any inspectorate within England and Wales has examined the service provided to victims2 of these crimes, actual
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