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Immigration See other Immigration Articles Title: Revealed: girl aged six among victims of 'honour crime' in London Children younger than 10 are among hundreds of suspected forced marriage and “honour” crime victims in London. The tally, in police statistics obtained by the Standard, paints a detailed picture of the scale of so-called “honour” crimes in the capital, the range of violence inflicted and the backgrounds of victims and their abusers. It can be revealed that reports of “honour” violence soared more than 40 per cent over the past five years, with 1,081 made to Scotland Yard. Those relating to forced marriages doubled in the same period, with 367 in total. Women and girls overwhelmingly form the majority of reported victims, with more than half coming from Asian backgrounds. Dozens of rapes and other sexual crimes were reported as well as knives and guns being involved in more than 70 incidents. Politicians and charity leaders today called the findings “troubling”, “shocking” and “abhorrent”. Labour MP Yvette Cooper, chair of the Commons Home Affairs Select Committee, said: “Too many of these awful crimes are still hidden. There is no ‘honour’ in violence against women, rape, torture or abuse of a family member. “These are deadly crimes and there is still too little protection, too few prosecutions and too much stigma which prevents people coming forward. "It’s vital that when victims do speak out they get proper help from support groups and from the police to keep them safe.” Aneeta Prem, founder of the Freedom Charity, which helps victims and visits schools to educate children, said they had recently provided support to a six- year-old girl suspected of being groomed by her family for a forced marriage after being taken to Bangladesh. The case was referred to police when her school raised the alarm. She said: “These figures are shocking and to think this is happening in London in the 21st century is abhorrent, barbaric and wrong as well as against the law. Suicide rates among Asian girls between the ages of 16 and 25 are three times the national average. “Tragically many girls feel the only way they can escape a forced marriage is to take their own lives.” Detective chief inspector Sam Faulkner, of the Met’s Community Safety Unit, said the crimes stem from communities using “cultural and/or religious justifications for male violence against women and girls and other people”, often based on traditions whereby “an individual, family and community’s honour is weighted on women and girls”. This can include refusing to go along with a marriage. He added: “We see an increase in these types of offences as a positive step, an indication that victims have more confidence to report offences to police and seek the support they need.” The figures, obtained under Freedom of Information requests, show that “violence against the person” was the most common “honour” attack, accounting for 85 per cent (915) of all 1,081 reports. This included 243 of assault with injury, 204 of common assault, 173 of harassment, 58 of wounding or GBH and 237 “other violence”. Sexual violence was the second largest category, with 56 rapes and 11 “other sexual” crimes. Of 1,083 victims, 84 per cent (905) were women, with Asian women accounting for more than half (596). The next biggest victim group was Asian men (120) followed by Arabian and Egyptian women (104), a group the Met called “dark European” women (80) and Afro-Caribbean women (70). Knives were allegedly used in 69 incidents and guns in four. The majority of victims were aged between 10 and 40, but 17 were under 10. Of 473 people proceeded against, 403 were men and 70 women. Those which relate to forced marriages, which includes victims abused while fearing a marriage which had not taken place, accounted for 35 rapes and eight “other sexual”, with women making up 91 per cent (344) of 376 victims. Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread
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