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“Honour”-based violence in a British South Asian community

Roxanne Khan (School of Psychology, University of Central Lancashire, Preston, UK)
Shamam Saleem (School of Psychology, University of Central Lancashire, Preston, UK)
Michelle Lowe (University of Bolton, Bolton, UK)

Safer Communities

ISSN: 1757-8043

Article publication date: 15 December 2017

Issue publication date: 2 January 2018

2647

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore attitudes towards, and victimisation experiences of, “honour”-based violence (HBV) in a reportedly vulnerable population in the UK.

Design/methodology/approach

A convenience sample of 216 participants were recruited from a local community in England; the majority were young (mean age=21.93), Indian or Pakistani (85 per cent), Muslim (96 per cent), females (67 per cent).

Findings

Although gender differences were found for attitudes towards one aspect of HBV (namely, forced marriage), these were not significant. While HBV victimisation affected only a small proportion of this sample, when it was reported, the effects were serious and included anxiety, attempted suicides and running away from home. This highlights the need to identify and safeguard vulnerable groups without stigmatising whole communities.

Originality/value

These findings contribute to the scarce literature available on HBV in British communities, and highlight a need for culturally aware emergency and health service provision.

Keywords

Citation

Khan, R., Saleem, S. and Lowe, M. (2018), "“Honour”-based violence in a British South Asian community", Safer Communities, Vol. 17 No. 1, pp. 11-21. https://doi.org/10.1108/SC-02-2017-0007

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2018, Emerald Publishing Limited

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