Dishonour Abuse and CPS Guidance
Dishonour abuse is Freedom Charity’s term for abuse officially described as so-called honour-based abuse. There is no honour in coercion, forced marriage, FGM, abandonment, intimidation or violence. Current CPS guidance and inspection work show why prosecutors must recognise the full pattern, not only the offence on the charge sheet. [CPS Guidance] [HMCPSI]
A case can look ordinary on paper and still be high risk in real life.
What dishonour abuse means
Freedom Charity uses the term dishonour abuse because the dishonour lies with the abuser, not the person seeking freedom.
The dishonour does not belong to the person who chooses who to marry, refuses abuse, seeks education, leaves violence, rejects FGM, lives independently or asks for help.
It belongs to those who use fear, shame, family pressure, control or violence to punish freedom.
Official documents still use the term so-called honour-based abuse. Legal accuracy matters, so professionals will continue to see that wording in CPS, police, court and government material. Freedom uses dishonour abuse because the official phrase can give the perpetrator’s claimed motive a dignity it does not deserve.
This is not an attack on culture, faith or family. It is a refusal to let abuse hide behind those words.
Why CPS guidance matters
The CPS guidance on so-called honour-based abuse, forced marriage and harmful practices assists prosecutors when reviewing and preparing these cases. It recognises that this area can involve different criminal offences rather than one single offence. [CPS Guidance]
That legal structure matters. A case may be prosecuted as assault, harassment, stalking, threats to kill, coercive control, kidnap, sexual offending, forced marriage, FGM or another offence.
The charge may be correct. The risk picture may still be incomplete.
A prosecutor may see one offence when the victim is living inside a wider pattern of collective control. A threat can connect to travel plans. Harassment can sit alongside forced marriage pressure. Coercive control can include immigration abuse. A missing person report can hide the risk of transnational abandonment.
The offence label matters. It does not tell the whole story.
What prosecutors must see
Dishonour abuse often involves more than one person.
A parent may threaten. A sibling may monitor. A relative abroad may apply pressure. Someone else may hold passports, control money or arrange travel. Community pressure may reinforce silence.
The prosecution file may name one defendant. Real life may involve a network.
That distinction affects risk, bail, witness care, evidence strategy and safeguarding. It also affects whether a victim feels able to continue.
A victim who withdraws may not be unreliable. They may be under pressure from several people.
Specialist understanding, not a different test
Specialist prosecution does not mean a different legal test.
It means trained case handling, accurate case-flagging, early safeguarding and evidence reviews that recognise collective control.
Prosecutors must apply ordinary legal standards to the full factual picture, not a reduced version of it. The question is not only whether there is evidence of the named offence. The question is whether the case file shows a wider pattern of coercion, intimidation, family pressure or risk.
That approach can affect charging decisions, bail applications, witness care, evidence strategy and trial preparation.
Case-flagging protects context
CPS guidance on identifying and flagging cases explains why so-called honour-based abuse and forced marriage cases need to be properly recorded. [CPS Flagging]
That flag is not decorative. It protects context.
Correct flagging helps prosecutors see why an apparently straightforward case may need specialist input. It supports monitoring, consistency and scrutiny. It also helps stop important facts being lost between agencies or reduced to background detail.
Poor flagging has the opposite effect. The file becomes smaller than the risk. The victim is then left to explain the pattern again and again.
In family-controlled abuse, repetition can be dangerous. Every retelling may increase pressure on the victim.
The review-stage questions
At review stage, prosecutors should ask whether the case involves multiple alleged perpetrators, pressure from relatives, travel risk, document control, immigration threats, financial dependence, digital monitoring or previous safeguarding disclosures.
They should also consider whether the victim has suddenly left education, work or home. Has contact with friends or professionals reduced? Are interpreters safe? Has anyone tried to influence the victim’s account? Are there messages, calls, travel records, school notes, workplace concerns, medical evidence or earlier police reports that help show the wider pattern?
These are not cultural assumptions. They are casework questions.
Evidence must not rest on fear
A prosecution should not depend only on a frightened person carrying the whole case.
Police and prosecutors should build evidence early. Messages, call records, travel arrangements, passport control, financial dependence, school concerns, workplace disclosures, medical evidence, previous police contacts, immigration documents, social media monitoring and threats from more than one person may all help establish the pattern.
Evidence-led prosecution is not about ignoring the victim. It is about reducing the burden placed on them.
Fear can explain delay. Pressure can explain withdrawal. Dependence can explain silence.
The justice system must understand those realities before it treats absence of cooperation as absence of abuse.
Wider harmful practices
The CPS revised its guidance in 2026 to include wider harmful practices, including spiritual abuse, immigration-related exploitation, dowry abuse, transnational marriage abandonment, virginity testing and hymenoplasty. [CPS Update]
That development matters because abuse can be carried out through belief, status, money, documents, family loyalty and fear.
The Government has also announced a legal definition and guidance framework for so-called honour-based abuse, intended to help frontline professionals identify victims and pursue perpetrators more effectively. [GOV.UK]
Guidance alone will not protect victims. Practice must change.
Charging decisions, evidence reviews, bail positions, witness care and trial strategy must reflect the full pattern of abuse.
Where the dishonour lies
There is no honour in forcing someone to marry.
There is no honour in cutting a girl.
There is no honour in abandoning a spouse overseas.
There is no honour in using immigration status, religion, money, family loyalty or community pressure as a weapon.
The dishonour lies with the abuser.
Freedom Charity uses that language because it removes false dignity from the perpetrator and places responsibility where it belongs.
What the HMCPSI review should ask
HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate is reviewing the quality of CPS casework in cases involving so-called honour-based abuse. The first phase looks at the current landscape and third-sector engagement. A later phase is expected to examine casework. [HMCPSI]
That review is an opportunity to ask whether the prosecution system sees these cases clearly enough.
A harassment case may involve forced marriage pressure. A coercive control case may involve transnational abandonment. A threat may carry the weight of an entire family network. A victim’s silence may be evidence of fear, not proof that the risk has gone.
Justice must recognise the pattern before the victim is left to carry the danger alone.
The prosecution system must prove that it can see the abuse, charge the offending properly and protect those at risk before fear makes evidence harder to secure and victims harder to protect.
FAQ
What is dishonour abuse?
Dishonour abuse is Freedom Charity’s term for abuse officially described as so-called honour-based abuse. It can include coercion, forced marriage, FGM, threats, surveillance, abandonment, immigration abuse, spiritual abuse, dowry abuse, transnational marriage abandonment and family-controlled violence.
Why does Freedom Charity avoid the word honour?
Freedom Charity uses dishonour abuse because there is no honour in controlling, threatening, cutting, abandoning or forcing another person. The dishonour lies with the abuser, not the person seeking freedom.
Why does CPS guidance matter?
CPS guidance matters because these cases may be prosecuted under different offences. Proper case-flagging helps prosecutors recognise the wider pattern of abuse, not only the individual offence.
What should prosecutors look for?
Prosecutors should consider whether there are multiple alleged perpetrators, family pressure, travel risk, document control, immigration threats, financial dependence, digital monitoring, spiritual coercion or previous safeguarding disclosures.
How can Freedom Charity help?
Freedom Charity supports those affected by forced marriage, FGM and dishonour abuse. Anyone in immediate danger should call 999.
Aneeta Prem, London, 29 June 2026