Honour-based violence (HBV) is the term used to refer to a collection of practices used predominantly to control the behaviour of women and girls within families or other social groups in order to protect supposed cultural and religious beliefs, values and social norms in the name of ‘honour’.

Honour’-based violence includes:

• Forced marriage (this is where one or both people do not (or in cases of people with learning disabilities or reduced capacity, cannot) consent to marriage as they are pressurised, or abuse is used, to force them to do so. It is recognised in the UK as a form of domestic or child abuse and a serious abuse of human rights.
• Domestic violence (physical, sexual, emotional or financial abuse)
• Sexual harassment and sexual violence (rape and sexual assault or threat of rape and sexual assault)
• Threats to kill
• Social ostracism or rejection and emotional pressure
• Denial of access to children
• Pressure to go or move abroad
• House arrest and excessive restrictions of freedom
• Denial of access to the telephone, internet, or passport/key documentation
• Isolation from friends and own family

Refuge has a Freephone 24-Hour National Domestic Abuse Helpline: 0808 2000 247 or visit www.nationaldahelpline.org.uk (access live chat Mon-Fri 3-10pm)