UK Police Rarely Rescue Muslims Girls from Family ‘Honor’ Violence for Fear of Being Labeled Racist
So called honor-based violence in Muslim households in the U.K. go unnoticed because the police are unwilling to act, leaving teenage girls to die, according to a new report.
Police officers are scared of being labeled “racist” for intervening on young girls’ claims that they get abused at home for not living in accordance with Muslim values. All but three of the 43 police departments in England and Wales could only to “some extent” protect and support the victims, according to the report from Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary.
The Muslim girls interviewed said the police live in denial about the existence of honor-based violence or fear that investigations may come across as “culturally insensitive” in the age of political correctness.
“They are too scared of coming across as racist,” one of the interviewed victims said. “They need a dedicated team, who really understand the different cultures.”
The issue of honor-based violence have only been highlighted during the murders of young girls after they refused arranged marriages or were dating non-Muslim boys. There were 225 completed prosecutions in prosecutions for honor-based violence in the country in 2014, with 129 resulting in conviction.
Jasvinder Sanghera, an advocate against honor based violence and forced marriage, said she hopes the report will finally bring light to the problem.
“Does this mean that chief constables and police and crime commissioners are going to demonstrate some leadership in making this part of the broader mainstream agenda of domestic violence?” Sanghera told The Today Programme. “Because when victims are calling the help line day in and day out, they are still not being believed.”
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