“Honour” Based Abuse (HBA)
‘Honour’-based abuse (HBA) motivated by the belief that someone has brought shame or dishonour to a family or community.
The abuse is committed to protecting or defending the honour of the family or community.
It’s estimated that around 76% of victims of ‘honour’-based abuse are female, but anyone can be at risk.
In most cases, there are multiple perpetrators, within the family, extended family and sometimes the wider community.
How is “Honour” Based Abuse different?
Because cases of HBA are usually about protecting the honour of a group whether that be a family or a community, it is often perpetrated by more than one person. This is called collective abuse.
The perpetrators aim to “correct” the victims behaviour, or restore the reputation of the family or the community.
These perpetrators may include:
It’s estimated that around 76% of victims of ‘honour’-based abuse are female, but anyone can be at risk.

Abuse may be verbal, sexual, economic or physical and can encompass various criminal offences such as forced marriage, sexual assault, stalking and harassment, rape, coercive control, physical assault, forced suicide or murder.
Why do we need to be aware of HBA?
We should be able to rely on family, friends, and neighbours to offer support and keep an eye out for problems in cases of domestic abuse. This may involve calling the police if a perpetrator turns up, or they are worried about somebody’s safety.
However, in HBA cases, family, friends and neighbours must NOT be automatically involved in any safety planning because they may be part of the abuse. It is often very difficult to identify those that could condone or be coerced into accepting abuse.
The victim will be able to say whom they trust but the safest course is to try to seek support for the victim outside the community.
What kind of behaviours might be seen as breaching the “honour” code?
There is no religious basis to HBA and forced marriage; they are widely condemned by all religious faiths and communities.
What are “Honour”-based killings?
‘Murders within the framework of collective family structures, in which predominantly women are mutilated, imprisoned, forced to commit suicide and killed for actual or perceived immoral behaviour, which is deemed to have breached the honour codes of a household or community, causing shame.’
(Iranian and Kurdish Women’s Rights Organisation)
In the UK, it is estimated that one girl or woman is killed every month in the name of “honour”. There are 17,000 reported incidents of HBA or forced marriage in the UK each year.
This Ted Talk by Payzee Mahmod discusses some of the key issues on this page. Her sister Banaz was forced into marriage and was a victim of ‘honour’-based abuse and killing.