Since December 2022 the Police and Crime Commissioner team have been working in partnership with Savera UK – a charity that provides support for those experiencing ‘honour’-based abuse (HBA) and harmful practices – to raise awareness of these abhorrent crimes and support victims.
This was initially through providing funding for a HBA and Harmful Practices specialist worker at Savera UK to provide one-to-one support for survivors and people at risk of HBA in Cheshire. In May, further funding was secured to enable Savera UK to boost their awareness-raising work and deliver training to schools and professionals who work with vulnerable people on how to spot the signs of HBA and support victims.
HBA and harmful practices will be taking place in Cheshire, but they are underreported. It’s vital that victims have confidence in reporting their experiences and a conference was held in July with partners from the police, criminal justice and charity sector to outline how we can work together in Cheshire to achieve this.
The next stage of the work to tackle HBA in Cheshire involves knowing what level of understanding there is in local communities and wider professional sectors around HBA and harmful practices, to better inform future work.
We’re also asking if frontline professionals who have regular contact with people who may be victims of HBA on a daily basis would benefit from training designed to help spot the signs of HBA and harmful practices.
A short survey has been set up which is available here and will be open until midday on Friday 29 September 2023: https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/PCCHBA1/.