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The Guardian:

Police are not doing enough to protect victims of “honour-based” violence (HBV), forced marriage and female genital mutilation, according to a report by the police watchdog.

The first report by HM Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) on forces’ responses to the set of crimes, which disproportionately affect women from ethnic minorities, found that only three of the 43 forces in England and Wales were adequately prepared in all areas to respond to the needs of victims and take cases through to prosecution.

Inspectors found that well-trained and experienced officers who can identify and protect victims at an early stage were spread thinly, while attempts to adapt existing domestic abuse and child protection procedures could not take into account specific challenges posed by honour-based violence.

Cases such as those of Banaz Mahmod, who was raped and murdered by her family in 2006 after leaving her husband, and 15-year-old Tulay Goran, who was murdered by her father after a Romeo and Juliet-style romance, have raised its profile, but HMIC’s report found few forces had taken enough steps to fully tackle the problem.

In 2014 and 2015 there were 129 successful prosecutions for HBV. In the 96 cases where prosecutions did not end with a conviction, the top reason for the cases failing was that the victim retracted the complaint.

HMIC’s report raised concerns about the identification, recording and flagging of cases on police computer systems. Some forces had very limited or no capability at all to flag cases. “Without accurate data, the scale of the problem and the effectiveness of the police response to it cannot be properly assessed,” the report said. “More importantly, victims may be placed at risk if the context of their records is not clear.”

In some cases, officers spoke to “precisely the wrong type of person” as they attempted to investigate the circumstances surrounding allegations, including family and community members who may have been involved in the abuse.

BBC:

Commander Mak Chishty, the National Police Chiefs' Council lead on the issue, said it was "working to develop a more consistent approach to policing in this area, particularly in the early identification of victims, potential offenders and protecting vulnerable people by managing risk".

He added: "We agree with HMIC that the victims of honour-based violence are often most at risk from those closest to them: their families and relatives.

"They have the right to be listened to, believed, taken seriously and protected; we are committed to improving our response so that this happens consistently."

HM Inspector of Constabulary Wendy Williams said honour-based violence was being suffered "on a daily basis" by innocent people "across all areas and communities".

She added: "The immense emotional difficulty victims have in reporting the crimes they have suffered means that victims are acutely and continually vulnerable.

"It is clear that the police service has some way to go before the public can be confident that honour-based violence is properly understood by the police, and that potential and actual victims are adequately and effectively protected."

Additional info regarding Banaz Mahmod's tragic case: ""Still now they follow me": Footage of Banaz Mahmod warning police before her 'honour' killing to be shown for the first time"

The camera mounted in the corner of the police interview suite captures the nervousness of the young woman as she flicks hair away from her face and starts to recount her grim story.

Recorded on grainy videotape with the time code running beneath, Banaz Mahmod quietly details a litany of sexual violence and oppression at the hands of an abusive husband. She tells of intimidation by men on the street that she recognises, but does not know, when she finally left him. Then finally, she appears to warn of her own impending death – because of the "dishonour" she has brought on her family.

"Still now they follow me," says Ms Mahmod in clipped English, heavily-accented from her early years in the Kurdish region of northern Iraq. "That's the main reason that I came to the police station. In the future at any time if anything happens to me, it's them."

It took one police officer three months to write up the report of her account. Within two weeks of her signing it as a true record, Banaz Mahmod was dead – killed, and possibly raped, in her parents’ house by a gang of killers in January 2006 employed by the family in one of the country’s most high-profile so-called "honour" killings.

The recorded interview was one of five contacts with police in the five months before she died in January 2006. On one occasion, she handed over a letter at a south London police station naming the men who she said were ready to kill her and her boyfriend, Rahmat, whom she had been spotted kissing in contravention of the code of honour demanded by the male-dominated members of her family and community.

 

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Perhaps there's not much to discuss. Here's the link to the full HMIC report:
"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"

It's not just the UK that has to deal with this shit. Report from September by Canada's Department of Justice: "Preliminary Examination of so-called "Honour Killings" in Canada"



Some notes on the challenges faced by law enforcement. Terje Bjøranger, assistant chief of police in the immigration unit in Romerike, Norway:

While a “regular” killing generally involves a conflict between the killer and the victim, an honour killing is based on a collective decision within the extended family. Often there is a family meeting, where it’s decided who will carry out the murder, and how it will happen.

An honour killing involves many potential accomplices. Without understanding these family mechanisms, this can be difficult to see. Police must find out who has the power in the family, who did the killing, who assisted physically and who assisted mentally.

For these cases, police need to rely on both regular investigative methods and involve those who have special skills to find out what happened.

Honour killings and other honour-based violence cases are challenging for police. These cases can be very costly and difficult. At the same time, the problem exists and is probably growing.

This means that the police need to rethink their approach and obtain the necessary knowledge about culture, religion and traditions. It’s not a problem that will disappear with time.

And more specifically from the HMIC report:

The ability to use police powers effectively to protect HBV victims requires recognition of the risk factors applicable to those victims, some of which may be contrary to approaches developed in domestic abuse cases. For example, mediation practices that might be used in domestic abuse cases between the victim and apparent perpetrator could raise the level of risk to victims in HBV cases, not least because there may be perpetrators in the extended family and community who are colluding with the abuse.

In the context of such complex challenges, it is important to identify the starting point, both for effective policing and for inspection. As yet, there is no strong, published evidence on what works in policing to prevent harm to and protect victims. The current national policing strategy on HBV identifies the use of community engagement and community driven solutions in preventing harmful practices.

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“The police are educated by people who have not been through what I have been through. They are educated by books. That’s great but it’s not good enough. Speak to people like me: you’ll get a better understanding. You’ll start to understand how they [the perpetrators of honour based violence] work. Each culture, Indian, Pakistani or Arabic, has different rules and regulations. I can see it from the police point of view: it’s a lot to get their head around. But they get mixed up, they are too scared of coming across as racist. They need a dedicated team, who really understand the different cultures. And they need to talk to victims and survivors.” (HBV victim)

As this quoted HBV victim makes clear, it will not be sufficient for police forces to simply read this report to understand the nature of the very serious HBV risks in their communities. There is no substitute for genuine and long-term engagement with community groups representing the interests of victims.

The cross-cultural nature of HBV exacerbates these risks. Our interviews with victims illustrated the way in which expectations about police assumptions or attitudes related to ethnicity can deter victims from placing trust and confidence in the police service. Our evidence on inhibitors and challenges to the police service successfully tackling HBV (gathered during Phase 1 of this inspection) showed that some officers are concerned about being perceived as culturally insensitive when dealing with or making enquiries regarding HBV.

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From the section "Victim engagement project findings: Factors affecting decision to contact police"

Participants were asked about the factors that influenced their decisions on whether or not to contact police. It was evident that while the honour-based system was, in many cases, a motivating factor for victims to report their experiences to police, it could also be a constraining factor, as in the following examples:

“I tried to leave before, going to my family, going to the mosque, going to my friends but I was so controlled, he would just bring me back – and I didn’t think I had any option but to stay and be a good Muslim, the dutiful wife and all of that. [...] You know my parents are just saying “You’re mad”. My own brothers are just saying that “You’re mad”. Take him back, drop the charges. And pray for him. You know, get yourself help – like I was the problem.” (HBV victim)

The report has several more interviews with victims. Sorry about the wall text of quotes.