Since December 2022 I have been working in partnership with Savera UK – a charity that provides support for those experiencing ‘honour’-based abuse (HBA) and harmful practices – to raise awareness of these abhorrent crimes and support victims.
This was initially through providing funding for a HBA and Harmful Practices specialist worker at Savera UK to provide one-to-one support for survivors and people at risk of HBA in Cheshire. In May I secured further funding to enable Savera UK to boost their awareness-raising work and deliver training to schools and professionals who work with vulnerable people on how to spot the signs of HBA and support victims.
We know that HBA and harmful practices will be taking place in Cheshire, but we also know that they are underreported. It’s vital that victims have confidence in reporting their experiences and a conference was held in July with partners from the police, criminal justice and charity sector to outline how we can work together in Cheshire to achieve this.
The next stage of the work to tackle HBA in Cheshire involves us knowing what level of understanding there is in our communities and wider professional sectors around HBA and harmful practices, to better inform future work.
We’re also asking if frontline professionals who have regular contact with people who may be victims of HBA on a daily basis would benefit from training designed to help spot the signs of HBA and harmful practices.
As people return from their summer holidays, we have set up a short survey which is available here and will be open until midday on Friday 29 September: https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/PCCHBA1/.
The more data we can gather to inform our campaign and raise awareness of HBA and harmful practices, the more we will be able to identify and support victims.
Best Wishes
John
Office of the Police & Crime Commissioner
01606 364000