As recent British police statistics show, attacks on women in the name of family honor are increasing rapidly. 2,823 incidents were reported by 39 police stations in 2010, and it is estimated that about 500 more occurred in the jurisdictions of 13 that did not collect data. Between the 12 stations able to provide figures from 2009 as well, there was an overall 47 percent rise in honor attack incidents. Police in Northumbria saw a 305 percent increase from 17 incidents in 2009 to 69 in 2010, while Cambridgeshire saw a 154 percent jump from 11 to 28. In London, reported honor crimes more than doubled from 235 in 2009 to 495 in 2010, while in the Greater Manchester district the number went from 105 to 189. This is the first time UK figures have been collated for honor-based violence, which is violence directed against a person accused of bringing shame upon their family. Victims have been killed for refusing to enter a marriage, committing adultery or being in a relationship that displeased their relatives. The respective police agencies transferred the information to the Iranian and Kurdish Women's Rights Organization (Ikwro), demanding the data following a freedom of information request. The charity said the statistics do not give the full picture of the levels of honor violence in the UK , but are the best national estimate so far. According to Fionnuala Mhurchu, the organization's campaign officer, there are two main reasons for the increase of honor crimes in statistics. While on the one hand, police is becoming more aware of such crimes, on the other hand, young women from traditional communities are less accepting of old practices: “They're resisting abuses of their human rights such as forced marriage more and more, and as a result they're being subjected to this kind of violence. We hear from the community that this violence is on the increase.” These figures are important because they demonstrate this is not a minor problem – it is a serious issue affecting thousands of people a year, many of whom will suffer high levels of abuse before they seek help. We want the government to develop a national strategy on honor-based violence that covers not just policing but also issues such as education and community cohesion,” Mhurchu claims. Moreover, in order to fight against the problem effectively the police stations which are still not collecting data on how often such violence occurs must do so. According to Jasvinder Sanghera, working with the victim support group Karma Nirvana said “the real figure could be four times as high as so many incidents go unreported because of victims' fears of recriminations.” Commander Mak Chishty of Association of Chief Police Officers Acpo reacts to the increasing criticism that some forces are still not collecting the data in a consistent format on a regular basis by stating that “we're now in consultation on a new strategy. All frontline staff has received awareness training and every force has a champion on honor-based abuse. I'm confident that any victim who comes to us will receive the help they need,” he said. While every year in the UK, officials estimate that at least a dozen women are victims of honor killings, honor-based violence is a topic only now starting to appear on the national statistics. BM
