A senior police officer has admitted to MPs that investigations into allegations of honour-based abuse or coercion were sometimes affected by a fear of treading on “cultural sensitivities.”
Honour-based abuse is a term that refers to manipulative or violent control of women and girls based on cultural or religious beliefs. It includes arranged marriages of underage brides, virginity testing, enforced abortion, forced marriage, and female genital mutilation (FGM), all the way up to murder.
