Our Story & Timeline
Freedom Charity · 2009–2026
A history built around one idea. Choice.
Freedom Charity was co-founded in 2009 by Aneeta Prem MBE and Lord Toby Harris. Since then, its work has brought together safeguarding, education, books, technology, campaigning, Parliament and professional training around forced marriage, female genital mutilation (FGM) and Dishonour Abuse.
This is a documented public history. National legal changes are separated from Freedom’s own contribution, and unresolved historical details are not presented as settled fact.
The beginning
Protection started with education.
Freedom’s governing Trust Deed is dated 11 August 2009. From the outset, the charity combined prevention with practical safeguarding — helping young people recognise coercion, understand their rights and know where to seek help.
In 2011, Aneeta Prem’s novel But It’s Not Fair became part of that approach. A House of Lords event on 29 June 2011 linked the book with Freedom’s then 24-hour helpline, hosted by Lord Toby Harris.
The point was simple: information had to reach young people before a crisis became irreversible.
Genuine Freedom archive image: But It’s Not Fair.
Genuine Freedom archive photograph.
2013–2014
From classrooms to Parliament.
On 5 March 2013, Freedom launched its safeguarding App for young people at risk of forced marriage. Government records show Forced Marriage Unit part-funding and safeguarding input involving the Metropolitan Police.
On 20 June 2013, Aneeta Prem gave evidence on behalf of Freedom to the House of Commons Public Bill Committee considering legislation that would create the forced-marriage offence.
Freedom then published its #Freedom2Choose film on 15 June 2014, immediately before forced marriage became a specific criminal offence in England and Wales on 16 June.
Campaigning matters. Accuracy matters too. Freedom records its contribution without claiming that any single organisation caused a change in law.
2015–2017
Books became tools. A symbol became a campaign.
Government guidance added But It’s Not Fair as a forced-marriage resource. Freedom’s work then expanded further into FGM through Cut Flowers, associated education and professional training.
Government records show that a funded Freedom Train the Trainers programme reached 3,620 students and 1,230 teachers by April 2016.
On 6 February 2017, Freedom and the National Police Chiefs’ Council launched the national Red Triangle anti-FGM campaign. The symbol gave schools, professionals and the public a visible way to reject FGM and start safeguarding conversations.
Genuine Freedom archive photograph: Miriam Margolyes with Cut Flowers.
Genuine Freedom archive photograph from the Red Triangle campaign record.
A visible movement
Public awareness only works if people remember it.
Freedom’s campaigns were designed to move safeguarding beyond policy documents: into schools, professional practice, airports, media and everyday conversations.
By 2017, the University of Winchester recorded that more than 47,000 copies of But It’s Not Fair had been donated. In 2018, Hansard recorded that Freedom had visited 120 schools in six years.
Those dated figures are kept as historical snapshots rather than silently replaced by later totals. That makes the record more useful to funders, journalists and researchers.
Defining moments
The moments that changed the scale of the work.
Freedom’s history was built through repeated, documented steps: books placed in young people’s hands, government partnerships, safeguarding interventions, Parliamentary engagement and public launches. The presentation is intentionally simple; the evidence behind each moment is not.
2011
But It’s Not Fair and the helpline
On 29 June, Lord Toby Harris hosted a House of Lords event for But It’s Not Fair and Freedom’s then 24-hour helpline. Keith Vaz MP attended; pupils and teachers were interviewed by BBC Asian Network.
2012
A separate Parliamentary launch
On 13 April, contemporary reporting recorded another launch of the book and Freedom helpline in Parliament, with Lord Toby Harris and Keith Vaz MP among those backing it. The exact House and room remain under archive review.
Bank
Bank of England launch
A separate Bank of England launch for But It’s Not Fair appears repeatedly in Freedom and Aneeta’s archive. The event is retained; an exact date is not invented while the original invitation and guest list are being recovered.
2013
The Freedom App launches
On 5 March, the Foreign Office recorded a Forced Marriage Unit stakeholder event at which Freedom’s smartphone App for young people at risk of forced marriage was launched. GOV.UK records FMU part-funding and safeguarding input involving the Metropolitan Police.
Lancaster House is retained from the Freedom/Aneeta archive while venue-specific public proof is still being recovered.
18–25 Oct
A secret call. A police referral. Three women reach safety.
In October 2013, a woman secretly contacted Freedom reporting decades of domestic servitude. Freedom referred the matter to police; the Metropolitan Police Human Trafficking Unit became involved, and on 25 October three women left the property and reached safety.
Freedom’s public history keeps the women anonymous and excludes private or jigsaw-identifying detail.
2023
Third edition launch
On 25 September, Freedom’s archive records the third edition of But It’s Not Fair launching at the Central Criminal Court, Old Bailey, hosted by Sheriff Andrew Marsden. Independent event material is still being recovered.
Genuine Freedom archive photograph from the Cut Flowers Parliamentary launch record.
Books & launches
The books were launched, used and relaunched — not simply published.
But It’s Not Fair has a separate publication and event history: the early archive launch record, first publication in 2011, the House of Lords event on 29 June 2011, the Parliamentary book-and-helpline launch in April 2012, a separate Bank of England event retained in the archive, and the third-edition launch at the Old Bailey in September 2023.
Cut Flowers also has a multi-event launch history. The surviving record distinguishes a Parliamentary launch period with then Education Secretary and Minister for Women and Equalities Nicky Morgan, a separate Reed Smith event with foreword writer Miriam Margolyes, and an archive lead for a separate House of Lords event whose exact date and programme are still being recovered. The Bank of England launch in the controlled archive belongs to But It’s Not Fair, not Cut Flowers.
The public record keeps each launch, edition and education milestone separate. Nothing is collapsed just to make the timeline shorter.
Campaigns
Campaigns gave the policy work a public face.
#Freedom2Choose was published by Freedom on 15 June 2014, immediately before the forced-marriage offence came into force in England and Wales. The film featured Home Secretary Theresa May, Aneeta Prem, the Forced Marriage Unit, police, the Crown Prosecution Service, criminal-justice figures and an anonymous survivor.
The Red Triangle campaign, launched nationally with the National Police Chiefs’ Council on 6 February 2017, gave the anti-FGM work a visible symbol. By 2018 the symbol was also being used in airport safeguarding at Leeds and Manchester.
Not in My Name is part of Freedom’s prevention work with boys and men, challenging FGM, forced marriage and violence justified through family or community reputation. Its earlier campaign history is retained in the archive; Freedom’s official school-safe campaign track was published in 2026.
Freedom archive: #Freedom2Choose.
Cases & safeguarding
Education mattered because people used it when they were afraid.
Freedom’s public history includes anonymised cases only where there is a strong public record and where publishing the detail does not expose survivors. National court cases are labelled as legal context rather than claimed as Freedom interventions.
Domestic servitude — a secret call leads to police action
A woman secretly contacted Freedom after seeing the charity’s work. Freedom referred the matter to police; the Metropolitan Police Human Trafficking Unit became involved and three women later reached safety.
A six-year-old child
The Sunday Times reported Freedom’s warning about children being forced into marriage and quoted Aneeta Prem describing the youngest case Freedom had encountered: a six-year-old child with learning difficulties.
An 11-year-old contacts Freedom after reading the book
Public reporting described an 11-year-old in London contacting Freedom after encountering But It’s Not Fair through her older brother. Reporting said a Skype call had been used as a marriage ceremony with an adult man overseas.
First convictions
England saw its first forced-marriage conviction in 2018; the first successful FGM conviction in England and Wales followed in 2019. These are national court milestones, shown as context for the safeguarding work rather than Freedom achievements.
Media & national voice
The work has repeatedly entered the national conversation.
Freedom and Aneeta Prem have been used as an expert or campaigning voice across television, radio, print and international media. The public record includes BBC News and Newsnight, BBC Radio 4, Panorama, Channel 4 News, ITV, Sky News, Al Jazeera, LBC, The Guardian, The Times, The Sunday Times, the Evening Standard and the Oxford Union. The purpose of this page is not to reproduce every clip, but to preserve the major moments and link to the fuller media archive.
Freedom’s Red Triangle remains part of its public prevention work.
2020–2021 · Covid
When face-to-face work stopped, the safeguarding need did not.
Freedom’s trustees reported that helpline calls rose by about 40% during the 2020/21 financial year, linking the increase to abuse and neglect in homes and the loss of ordinary school and social safeguarding contact during lockdown.
Professional training and school education moved online. The trustees’ report records positive feedback from online sessions and continued annual campaigning around FGM Day and International Women’s Day.
In July 2020, The Guardian reported that 220 schools were waiting for Freedom’s FGM teaching during a period of reduced funding — a separate measure of demand for the education programme.
Education & professional training
The work travelled through classrooms, universities and professional practice.
Freedom’s education record is a core part of its history, not a supporting detail. The archive records sustained work with pupils, teachers, universities, police and other professionals, alongside national policy and safeguarding conferences.
National education and training expands
Independent and Parliamentary records describe Freedom delivering school assemblies, lessons and teacher support nationally. By 2013, Freedom also told Parliament it was working across schools, colleges and universities and running a substantial ACPO/police training programme.
Social-work masterclass
University and British Federation of Women Graduates material records Aneeta Prem addressing social-work students and invited guests on forced marriage and dishonour-based violence. The event was filmed; its exact date remains controlled in the archive.
Education Secretary joins Freedom school work
Department for Education ministerial returns record Nicky Morgan visiting Alperton Community School with Freedom Charity. Contemporary reporting records Aneeta speaking to pupils about forced marriage and how to respond if they or a friend were at risk.
Train the Trainers
The UK Government funded Freedom to expand its Train the Trainers project. By April 2016, Government reporting recorded delivery reaching 3,620 students and 1,230 teachers.
George Dixon, Winchester and Mulberry
Independent records place Freedom at George Dixon Academy in Birmingham, a special University of Winchester masterclass on dishonour-based crime, and a Mulberry Academy Shoreditch assembly recorded as reaching 180 students.
Education reach enters Hansard
In 2018, the House of Lords recorded that Freedom had visited 120 schools in six years. In March 2019, pupils joined Freedom representatives at an International Women’s Day event in Parliament organised with Nicky Morgan.
Training moves online
During the pandemic, Freedom moved professional training and school education online. Charity Commission reporting records positive feedback and continuing annual work around FGM Day and International Women’s Day.
From university audiences to national conferences
Aneeta represented Freedom at national Public Policy Exchange conferences on forced marriage in 2022 and 2024, at a University of Essex regional event in 2022, and at 2024 conferences on virginity testing and hymenoplasty, violence against women and girls, and FGM.
Law & reform
The legal landscape changed around the work.
Freedom’s history sits alongside major changes in forced-marriage, FGM and harmful-practices law. These are national legal milestones, not achievements claimed by one organisation. Where Freedom campaigned, gave evidence or built public-awareness work around a reform, that contribution is identified separately.
Forced Marriage Protection Orders
The Forced Marriage (Civil Protection) Act 2007 created the civil framework for Forced Marriage Protection Orders, which became available in England and Wales in November 2008.
Government decides to criminalise forced marriage
After consultation with victims, charities and frontline agencies, the Government announced that forcing someone to marry would become a specific criminal offence in England and Wales.
Freedom gives evidence before criminalisation
On 20 June 2013, Aneeta Prem gave evidence on behalf of Freedom to the House of Commons Public Bill Committee. Freedom then used #Freedom2Choose to explain the reform publicly immediately before commencement.
Forced marriage criminalised in England and Wales
Section 121 of the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 came into force. The offence covers coercion and, in specified circumstances, deception connected with taking someone overseas.
Forced marriage criminalised in Scotland
Section 122 of the 2014 Act came into force in Scotland, adding a criminal offence to Scotland’s existing civil protection framework.
Northern Ireland creates a specific offence
The Human Trafficking and Exploitation (Criminal Justice and Support for Victims) Act (Northern Ireland) 2015 created a specific forced-marriage offence for Northern Ireland.
FGM Protection Orders begin
FGM Protection Orders came into force in England and Wales, providing a civil protection mechanism for people at risk of FGM.
FGM mandatory reporting duty
Regulated health and social-care professionals and teachers in England and Wales became required to report known cases of FGM in under-18s to the police.
Lifelong anonymity for forced-marriage victims
The Government introduced lifelong anonymity for victims of forced marriage, with related provisions also extending protection in Northern Ireland.
Scotland strengthens FGM protection
The Female Genital Mutilation (Protection and Guidance) (Scotland) Act 2020 introduced a specific Scottish FGM Protection Order framework and statutory-guidance provisions.
Virginity testing and hymenoplasty offences
The Health and Care Act 2022 made it illegal across the UK to carry out, offer, or aid and abet virginity testing and hymenoplasty. Freedom had campaigned publicly against both practices; the legislation resulted from a wider national process.
Minimum marriage age rises to 18
The Marriage and Civil Partnership (Minimum Age) Act 2022 came into force in England and Wales. People aged 16 and 17 could no longer marry or enter a civil partnership, even with parental consent, and the forced-marriage offence was widened in relation to causing a child to marry.
Evidence behind the story
Simple on the surface. Rigorous underneath.
Freedom maintains a deeper historical record covering hundreds of dated events, publications, safeguarding milestones, Parliamentary interventions, campaigns, education activity and media appearances. The public website uses the strongest evidence and keeps uncertainty visible.
Recognition
The work has been recognised. The recipient always matters.
Freedom distinguishes between awards made to the charity and honours received personally by co-founder Aneeta Prem where the official record is connected to Freedom’s work.
Prime Minister’s Points of Light · 2014
Government recognition cited work with young people, Freedom’s books and the App.
Honorary Doctor of Letters · 2015
The University of Winchester recognised Aneeta’s human-rights and campaigning work.
Progress 1000 · 2015–2018
Evening Standard recognition across multiple years, including Equality Champions in 2016.
MBE · 2023
The New Year Honours record identified Aneeta as Founder and President of Freedom Charity and recognised her charitable service.
National Diversity Award · 2026
Freedom won the Community Organisation Award for Gender at the National Diversity Awards.
Happy List and GG2 · 2014
Freedom-linked public recognition from the Independent on Sunday Happy List and GG2 Spirit in the Community record, with the GG2 archive still being strengthened.
2022–2026
Policy, evidence and language.
Freedom campaigned publicly against virginity testing and hymenoplasty. Parliament subsequently created UK-wide offences through the Health and Care Act 2022 as part of a wider national legislative process.
Freedom also submitted written evidence to the House of Commons Women and Equalities Committee on forced marriage, FGM, harmful practices and professional safeguarding, including the charity’s case for the term Dishonour Abuse.
On 4 March 2026, a House of Lords debate explicitly identified Freedom Charity’s campaign to replace “honour abuse” terminology with Dishonour Abuse.
Freedom Charity — Community Organisation Award for Gender, National Diversity Awards 2026.
Annual chronology
Every year stays in the record.
From 2009 to 2026, each year has its own place. Major events sit alongside quieter but important work in education, safeguarding, Parliament, media, campaigns and professional engagement. Where a date or venue is still being recovered from the archive, that uncertainty is stated rather than hidden.
2009Freedom Charity is founded+
Freedom’s governing Trust Deed is dated 11 August 2009. Freedom Charity was co-founded by Aneeta Prem MBE and Lord Toby Harris. Freedom’s historical archive records a public launch at the House of Lords on 9 December 2009; the event is retained with an archive-evidence label while the original invitation, room record and programme are being recovered. Freedom’s then 24-hour helpline also dates from this early period, although its exact first operating date remains under archive review. The foundation date is kept separate from later public-launch and Charity Commission registration milestones.
2010Early safeguarding infrastructure and the first book work+
Freedom’s archive records the early safeguarding infrastructure taking shape in 2010: the then 24-hour helpline, early work on But It’s Not Fair, and book production through the Doncaster prison print shop. A later Freedom chronology also records an early book launch/publication milestone in October 2010, while the bibliographic first-edition record is 2011.
Freedom also joined wider public advocacy around legal protection for vulnerable victims during this period.
2011But It’s Not Fair and the helpline+
2011 established several parts of Freedom’s public model. The first bibliographic edition of But It’s Not Fair is recorded that year, Freedom completed its Charity Commission registration on 4 January, and a contemporary school record documents the 29 June 2011 House of Lords event for the book and Freedom’s then 24-hour helpline, hosted by Lord Toby Harris with Keith Vaz MP attending. BBC Asian Network interviewed pupils and teachers. From this period, independent records also show Freedom’s national school assembly/lesson programme and police/frontline professional training expanding.
The historic 24-hour description does not describe current helpline availability.
2012But It’s Not Fair — Parliament and Bank of England+
2012 combined book launches, Government engagement and national media. On 13 April, contemporary reporting records a Parliamentary launch of But It’s Not Fair and Freedom’s then 24-hour helpline, with Lord Toby Harris and Keith Vaz MP among those supporting the event. Freedom and Aneeta’s archive separately records a Bank of England launch and a House of Commons event involving Keith Vaz and Lord Toby Harris; their exact date relationship is still being reconciled. On 8 June, Aneeta joined campaigners at a Foreign Office meeting with Prime Minister David Cameron as Government announced its decision to create a specific forced-marriage offence. The year also included BBC Newsnight, Channel 4 News and school outreach including Lea Manor High School.
2013App launch and House of Commons evidence+
Freedom’s safeguarding App launched on 5 March 2013 at a Foreign Office/Forced Marriage Unit stakeholder event. The event and date are independently verified; Freedom and Aneeta’s archive identifies the venue as Lancaster House, while the original venue-specific invitation or public caption is still being recovered. On 20 June 2013, Aneeta Prem gave oral evidence on behalf of Freedom to the Public Bill Committee considering the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Bill.
2013South London domestic-servitude safeguarding case+
On 18 October 2013, a woman secretly contacted Freedom reporting decades of domestic servitude. Freedom referred the matter to police; the Metropolitan Police Human Trafficking Unit became involved, and on 25 October three women left the property and reached safety. The case became public after police arrests in November.
Freedom keeps the women anonymous and does not publish private or jigsaw-identifying details.
2014#Freedom2Choose and criminalisation+
2014 was a major public-policy and education year. Lord Toby Harris spoke as Chair of Freedom Charity in a House of Lords debate in January. Freedom’s record also includes BBC Look East, London Live and an Independent interview, a University of Winchester social-work masterclass and a Leyton Sixth Form College safeguarding session. On 15 June, Freedom published #Freedom2Choose; Sky News recorded Home Secretary Theresa May joining Freedom, police, the CPS and a survivor in the campaign film. Forced marriage became a specific criminal offence in England and Wales on 16 June, with Scotland’s offence commencing later that year. Freedom was also discussed in Seanad Éireann, and Aneeta received Happy List, GG2 and Prime Minister’s Points of Light recognition linked to the work.
2015Education, Government partnership and FGM reform+
2015 combined media, school education, Government partnership and legal change. On 26 January, Aneeta Prem discussed forced marriage on BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour. On 8 June, GOV.UK guidance added But It’s Not Fair as a forced-marriage resource. In July, Department for Education records place Education Secretary Nicky Morgan at Alperton Community School with Freedom Charity; Freedom’s archive also records a national FMU poster/resource campaign and lesson-plan work. Government then funded Freedom to expand its Train the Trainers programme. The year also brought Progress 1000 recognition, Aneeta’s honorary Doctor of Letters from the University of Winchester, FGM Protection Orders and the mandatory-reporting duty for known FGM in under-18s.
2016Cut Flowers, training scale and education+
2016 combined school delivery, digital safeguarding and the launch of Freedom’s FGM education work. George Dixon Academy records Aneeta’s visit with pupils’ Freedom Ambassadors work. Freedom App version 1.1 was released on 4 April. By April, Government reporting recorded the completed Train the Trainers project reaching 3,620 students and 1,230 teachers. The Guardian quoted Aneeta in April on very young people at risk of forced marriage.
Freedom’s Cut Flowers production record is dated 7 June. The launch period included a House of Commons event with then Education Secretary and Minister for Women and Equalities Nicky Morgan and a separate Reed Smith event with foreword writer Miriam Margolyes. Freedom’s archive also retains separate House of Lords and Bank of England event leads that remain under date/provenance review rather than being merged into the confirmed launches.
2017Red Triangle launches nationally+
Freedom and the National Police Chiefs’ Council launched the national Red Triangle anti-FGM campaign on 6 February 2017, with Freedom’s archive placing the launch at Haverstock School alongside pupils, Commander Mak Chishty, television cameras and LBC. Contemporary campaign reporting records large-scale police-force distribution of materials. The same period includes Freedom’s Not in My Name and #SupportDonateEradicate campaign strands, a University of Winchester masterclass on dishonour-based crime, an independent University record of more than 47,000 copies of But It’s Not Fair donated, a Mulberry Academy Shoreditch assembly, BBC Victoria Derbyshire safeguarding commentary and another Progress 1000 recognition.
2018Parliament, schools, airports and Red Triangle+
On 7 March 2018, Freedom held an event in the House of Lords River Room, sponsored by Baroness Hayman; official room statistics record 80 guests. Guardian reporting the same day documented the educational reach of Cut Flowers. On 10 July, Hansard recorded that Freedom had visited 120 schools in six years and was working with airport staff on forced-marriage risk. In August, the Red Triangle was reported in airport safeguarding at Leeds and Manchester. Freedom-linked Progress 1000 recognition followed in October.
2019Parliament, pupils and public recognition+
In February 2019, England and Wales recorded its first successful FGM conviction — a national legal milestone rather than a Freedom achievement. On 6 March, Freedom representatives and pupils took part in an International Women’s Day event in Parliament organised with Nicky Morgan; Hansard and school records preserve the event. Norwich School pupils spoke on the charity and women’s rights, and school archives also record Aneeta as a guest speaker at an Amnesty-themed event.
Freedom-linked recognition during the year included the British Airways BA100 / “Makers of Modern Britain” record, retained cautiously while the official BA archive is being strengthened.
2020Covid, safeguarding demand and online delivery+
Covid changed delivery but did not remove the safeguarding need. In July 2020, The Guardian reported that 220 schools were waiting for Freedom’s FGM teaching. Freedom’s trustees later reported that helpline calls rose by about 40% during the 2020/21 financial year, linking the rise to abuse or neglect in homes and reduced school and social contact. Professional training and school education moved online, with the trustees’ report recording positive feedback and continued annual work around FGM Day and International Women’s Day.
2021Online safeguarding, virginity-testing campaign and Oxford Union+
Freedom continued online school and professional safeguarding work through the pandemic period. National coverage also brought increased attention to virginity testing and hymenoplasty; Sky News reported Freedom warning about growing calls from young women being pressured into virginity tests and Aneeta publicly called for the practice to be criminalised.
In October 2021, the Oxford Union published Aneeta Prem’s full address and Q&A on Freedom’s human-rights and safeguarding issues. The video date is verified; the original event date remains separately controlled in the archive.
2022National policy speaking, harmful-practices reform and Parliamentary evidence+
On 26 April 2022, Aneeta represented Freedom as a key speaker at the national Public Policy Exchange conference on preventing forced marriage. In June, she spoke at a Soroptimist International London Anglia regional meeting at the University of Essex on Dishonour Abuse, forced marriage, FGM, virginity testing and hymenoplasty.
On 1 July, the Health and Care Act offences covering virginity testing and hymenoplasty came into force across the UK. Freedom had campaigned publicly against both practices; the law was the result of a wider national legislative process. In December, Freedom submitted written evidence to the House of Commons Women and Equalities Committee covering Dishonour Abuse terminology, forced marriage, FGM, virginity testing, hymenoplasty and professional safeguarding.
2023MBE, Parliamentary evidence and marriage-age reform+
2023 brought recognition, policy work, public education and another book chapter. Aneeta Prem was appointed MBE in the New Year Honours for charitable service as Founder and President of Freedom Charity. On 11 January, Parliament published Freedom’s written evidence to the Women and Equalities Committee, including its Dishonour Abuse terminology and recommendations on forced marriage, FGM, virginity testing and hymenoplasty. The minimum marriage and civil-partnership age rose to 18 in England and Wales on 27 February. Freedom also ran art/activism work including the Bishopsgate Institute event, Aneeta appeared as a key speaker at a national forced-marriage policy conference, the third edition of But It’s Not Fair launched at the Old Bailey in September, and the MBE investiture took place at Buckingham Palace in November.
2023Third edition launch at the Old Bailey+
Freedom’s archive records the third edition of But It’s Not Fair being launched at the Central Criminal Court, Old Bailey, on 25 September 2023, hosted by Sheriff Andrew Marsden. The event is retained as an archive-backed milestone while the independent invitation, guest list and external notice are still being recovered.
2024National policy forums and legal developments+
Freedom’s policy and professional-education work remained active in 2024. Public Policy Exchange records Aneeta as a key speaker at four national events: 8 February on virginity testing and hymenoplasty, 9 May on forced marriage, 20 June on violence against women and girls, and 29 August on FGM.
Freedom also continued public education around its books and safeguarding resources. In September, the CPS secured the first conspiracy-to-commit-FGM conviction in England and Wales, followed by sentencing in October — national legal context relevant to Freedom’s FGM prevention work, not an organisational achievement.
2025Not in My Name, national media and Dishonour Abuse+
Freedom’s prevention work continued visibly in 2025. The Not in My Name movement was used with young people around International Women’s Day, including boys and young men publicly rejecting FGM, forced marriage and Dishonour Abuse. In November, Aneeta Prem’s Freedom-linked media work included Channel 5 News commentary on the CPS Violence Against Women and Girls strategy and public commentary following Sky News reporting on FGM reconstruction. On 17 December 2025, the House of Lords raised Freedom’s argument for the term Dishonour Abuse.
2026Dishonour Abuse, prevention, books and national recognition+
Freedom’s public prevention work continued in early 2026 through the Not in My Name campaign track and renewed Red Triangle activity around FGM prevention. By 16 February 2026, Freedom/Aneeta’s public record stated that more than 100,000 copies of But It’s Not Fair and Cut Flowers had been donated; the website treats that as a dated organisational milestone while the underlying distribution records continue to be consolidated for external verification.
On 4 March 2026, the House of Lords explicitly identified Freedom Charity’s campaign to replace established “honour”-abuse terminology with Dishonour Abuse. Freedom also continued publication and policy work around the terminology during the year.
On 18 September 2026, Freedom Charity won the Community Organisation Award for Gender at the National Diversity Awards — recognition made to the organisation itself, not to an individual.
For serious funders
Trust should be earned in the evidence.
Freedom’s history is only one part of the case for support. A major funder should be able to examine the organisation behind the story: its governance, evidence, safeguarding, leadership and plans for responsible growth. We make those routes visible rather than asking funders to rely on reputation alone.