Statistics on so called ‘honour-based’ abuse offences, England and Wales, year ending March 2024

Product Description

This publication provides information on the number of police recorded offences which were identified as being so called HBA-related. This data has been collected by the Home Office from police forces in England and Wales on a mandatory basis since April 2019.

This data has been published to show the level of these offences dealt with by the police and to encourage other victims to report these offences to the police.

So called HBA-related offences and incidents, for the purposes of this collection, follow the police and Crown Prosecution Service definition of:
"an incident or crime involving violence, threats of violence, intimidation, coercion or abuse (including psychological, physical, sexual, financial or emotional abuse) which has or may have been committed to protect or defend the honour of an individual, family and/or community for alleged or perceived breaches of the family and/or community’s code of behaviour.”

The collection includes, but is not limited to, crimes of forced marriage and female genital mutilation (FGM). Where a forced marriage or FGM offence is recorded by the police, it should always be tagged on their Record Management System, with an HBA identifier. The collection also identifies the number of FGM offences that have been reported to and recorded by the police following a referral via the FGM Mandatory Reporting Duty. This requires regulated health and social care professionals and teachers in England and Wales to report known cases of FGM in victims aged 17 and under to the police. The FGM duty came into force on 31 October 2015.