Dishonour Abuse Training for Professionals
Freedom Charity provides honour-based abuse training on dishonour abuse, forced marriage, FGM, victim withdrawal, safeguarding, prevention education and professional partnership.
So-called honour-based abuse training is essential for professionals working with forced marriage, FGM, family-controlled abuse and harmful practices. Freedom Charity calls this dishonour abuse because there is no honour in coercion, control, abandonment, intimidation or violence.
The charge may be right. The risk picture may still be incomplete.
Freedom Charity helps professionals see the full pattern early, respond safely and work in partnership before harm escalates.
Why Freedom says dishonour abuse
Official systems still use the phrase “so-called honour-based abuse”. Police, CPS, courts and safeguarding agencies will continue to see that wording in guidance, case management systems and inspection documents.
Freedom Charity uses the term dishonour abuse because the dishonour lies with those who abuse, not with the person seeking freedom.
No child dishonours a family by asking for help. No woman dishonours a community by refusing abuse. A young person does not bring shame by wanting education, safety, bodily autonomy or the freedom to choose.
Abuse must never gain dignity from the word honour.
What honour-based abuse training must cover
Effective honour-based abuse training must move beyond definitions.
Professionals need to recognise how dishonour abuse appears in real life. It may present as assault, harassment, stalking, coercive control, threats, sexual abuse, a missing person report, a school absence, a travel concern, an immigration issue or a family dispute.
One offence may sit inside a wider pattern of control.
A parent may threaten. Siblings may monitor. Relatives overseas may apply pressure. Someone else may hold passports, control money, arrange travel or silence the victim.
Training must help professionals ask the right safeguarding questions without making cultural assumptions.
What the public record shows
The 2014 Home Affairs Committee report on FGM described FGM as severe gender-based violence and, where carried out on a girl, extreme child abuse. It called for prosecution, safeguarding, legal reform, community work and better support for survivors.
That report also exposed a frontline gap. Professionals did not always recognise risk indicators. Even when signs were seen, some did not know how to respond.
Guidance alone was not enough. The report made clear that professionals need training, confidence and referral pathways they can use at the point of need.
Schools were central to that argument. Teachers and school nurses may see children more regularly than any other professional outside the home, so prevention education and safeguarding awareness matter.
A later Home Affairs Committee report in 2016 showed that many of the same problems remained. It identified weak data, poor coordination, gaps in reporting, the need for PSHE education and the difficulty of securing prosecutions when victims are left to carry too much of the case.
Current HMCPSI scoping work brings those concerns into the CPS and police space. It recognises that so-called honour-based abuse is not a single offence and that cases need accurate flagging, proper oversight, specialist understanding and a stronger victim focus.
Five gaps Freedom Charity helps close
1. First-contact uncertainty
The first call, disclosure or report can shape everything that follows.
A pupil may tell a teacher about a planned trip abroad. Victims might call when they are being watched. Friends could report threats linked to marriage. Police may attend what first appears to be a family argument.
Every first contact carries risk.
Professionals need clear routes at that moment. They must know what to ask, what not to ask, who to involve, how to protect confidentiality and how to avoid increasing danger.
Freedom’s helpline and professional training support that first response.
2. Prevention before crisis
Prevention cannot begin after a girl has been cut, a marriage has been forced or someone has disappeared overseas.
Freedom Charity’s books, including But It’s Not Fair and Cut Flowers, help children and young people understand forced marriage, FGM, coercion, consent, bodily autonomy, choice and the right to seek help.
Our PSHE resources support schools and colleges to teach these issues safely, clearly and appropriately.
Early education gives young people the language to recognise abuse before harm becomes irreversible.
3. Professional confidence
Dishonour abuse rarely arrives with a label.
It may look like domestic abuse, child protection, stalking, harassment, school absence, travel risk, immigration control, financial abuse, spiritual coercion or a missing person concern.
Freedom’s professional training helps police, prosecutors, lawyers, teachers, social workers, health professionals, safeguarding leads and local authorities recognise the pattern behind the presenting incident.
Key risks include family pressure, collective control, document control, victim withdrawal, digital monitoring, threats to siblings, immigration abuse, forced marriage, FGM and transnational abandonment.
Training builds confidence because professionals learn what they must not miss.
4. Victim voice and safe support
Victims may withdraw because they are frightened, watched, threatened, dependent or pressured by more than one person.
Some fear homelessness, deportation, shame, violence, family rejection, harm to siblings or abandonment overseas. Others feel loyalty to family or community, even where those same networks are being used to control them.
Silence, delay or withdrawal can be part of the abuse.
Freedom’s helpline and survivor-informed work help professionals understand fear without blaming the victim.
5. Partnership with statutory agencies
No single agency can prevent dishonour abuse, forced marriage or FGM alone.
Effective protection depends on trusted routes, safe referrals, professional confidence, early education, accurate case-flagging, clear risk assessment and specialist partnership.
Freedom Charity works with schools, colleges, universities, police, local authorities, safeguarding partnerships, professionals and community organisations to improve prevention and response.
Partnership turns policy into practice.
What Freedom Charity does
Freedom Charity provides practical safeguarding support and prevention work across connected areas.
Our specialist helpline supports victims, survivors, friends, professionals and concerned members of the public seeking advice around dishonour abuse, forced marriage, FGM and related harms.
Education work uses books, school sessions and PSHE resources to help young people understand their rights, recognise coercion and know where to seek help.
But It’s Not Fair and Cut Flowers make complex safeguarding issues understandable for young people, teachers and families.
PSHE Association Quality Mark resources support schools and colleges to teach FGM and forced marriage in a structured, safe and age-appropriate way.
The Red Triangle badge campaign creates visible solidarity against FGM and harmful practices. It starts conversations and supports prevention work, including school education and resources.
Professional training helps frontline staff recognise risk, respond safely and understand patterns of coercion, control and family pressure.
Partnership work supports agencies that want to improve safeguarding, prevention, referral pathways and professional confidence.
What professionals must not miss
Professionals should be alert to:
- threats linked to marriage, travel or family shame
- passport, phone or document control
- sudden withdrawal from education, work or friends
- pressure from relatives in the UK or overseas
- digital monitoring or surveillance
- immigration threats or dependency
- financial control
- spiritual or ritualised coercion
- fear of reporting family members
- risk to siblings or other relatives
- victim withdrawal after initial disclosure
These are not cultural assumptions.
They are safeguarding questions.
Why Freedom’s model matters
Freedom Charity is not a single-issue awareness project.
It is a prevention and safeguarding model.
The helpline creates a route to help. Books create understanding. PSHE resources create early prevention. Red Triangle badges create visible public commitment. Training creates professional confidence. Partnership creates safer systems.
Together, these services answer the same gaps that public reports have identified for more than a decade.
Professional training and partnership
Freedom Charity provides professional training and briefings for police officers, prosecutors, lawyers, safeguarding leads, schools, colleges, universities, local authorities, health professionals, social workers, youth workers, community organisations, councillors and public bodies.
Training can cover dishonour abuse, forced marriage, FGM, virginity testing, hymenoplasty, immigration abuse, spiritual abuse, transnational marriage abandonment, case-flagging, safe questioning, referral routes and prevention education.
The aim is practical: help professionals see the pattern early, respond safely and work in partnership before harm escalates.
FAQ
What is honour-based abuse training?
Honour-based abuse training helps professionals recognise cases officially described as so-called honour-based abuse. Freedom Charity calls this dishonour abuse because there is no honour in coercion, forced marriage, FGM, abandonment, intimidation or violence.
Why does Freedom Charity say dishonour abuse?
Freedom uses dishonour abuse because responsibility belongs with the abuser, not the person seeking freedom. The term removes false dignity from control, violence and coercion.
Who needs dishonour abuse training?
Police officers, prosecutors, lawyers, teachers, safeguarding leads, health professionals, social workers, local authorities, universities and community organisations may all need this training.
What does Freedom Charity training include?
Training can cover forced marriage, FGM, family pressure, victim withdrawal, travel risk, document control, immigration abuse, spiritual abuse, transnational abandonment, safe referrals and prevention education.
How does Freedom Charity help schools?
Freedom provides books, PSHE resources, school sessions and prevention education that help young people understand forced marriage, FGM, consent, bodily autonomy, coercion and where to seek help.
The value of Freedom Charity
Freedom Charity helps turn concern into action.
We support those at risk. Education comes before harm. Training builds professional confidence. Partnership creates safer systems.
Our work challenges the language of honour and places responsibility where it belongs.
There is no honour in coercion, forced marriage, FGM, abandonment, intimidation or violence.
The dishonour lies with the abuser.
Freedom Charity exists to protect the freedom to choose, the freedom to refuse, the freedom to leave, the freedom to learn and the freedom to live safely.
Freedom Charity training to:
https://freedomcharity.org.uk/book-a-visit/