Jaswant Narwal: We're coming after honour based abusers

PROSECUTORS have told Eastern Eye they are going after criminals who murder or abuse women and men in the name of so-called honour.

Over the past five years police forces in England and Wales recorded more than 12,100 offences.

In an exclusive interview, the national lead for the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), Jaswant Narwal, described the practice as barbaric and medieval.

“Patriarchy, male dominance, the subjugation of women, coercive control, power and control, all of those things exist behind a kind of cloak of culture or religion or tradition, which is all kind of false,” she said.

“It's there because it probably going to serve some communities, serve some families, serves individuals.

“I think it's a wrong, false and mistaken belief that it's preserving something that ought to be preserved, which is the concept of honour.”

Narwal said that communities were hiding the crime in plain sight, and that it was being underreported.

Even the official figures exclude Greater Manchester Police, which is home to one of the highest populations of south Asians.

London North’s chief prosecutor said she could understand how difficult it was for those who are suffering in silence.

“We do require friends to come forward, family to come forward,” said Narwal, “but we're able to build cases and we have had cases which have been built without the evidence of the victim.

“Sometimes we've had to summons the victim to court, sadly, but there are ways and means by which we can prosecute these cases, which are evidence led.

“So, we may have CCTV evidence, we may have diary evidence, for example, we may have recordings, we may have disclosure to third parties, all of that will count as evidence.

Prosecutors have told Eastern Eye they are going after criminals who murder or abuse women and men in the name of so-called honour.

Over the past five years police forces in England and Wales recorded more than 12,100 offences.

In an exclusive interview, the national lead for the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), Jaswant Narwal, described the practice as barbaric and medieval.

“Patriarchy, male dominance, the subjugation of women, coercive control, power and control, all of those things exist behind a kind of cloak of culture or religion or tradition, which is all kind of false,” she said.

“It's there because it probably going to serve some communities, serve some families, serves individuals.

“I think it's a wrong, false and mistaken belief that it's preserving something that ought to be preserved, which is the concept of honour.”

Narwal said that communities were hiding the crime in plain sight, and that it was being underreported.

Even the official figures exclude Greater Manchester Police, which is home to one of the highest populations of south Asians.

London North’s chief prosecutor said she could understand how difficult it was for those who are suffering in silence.

“We do require friends to come forward, family to come forward,” said Narwal, “but we're able to build cases and we have had cases which have been built without the evidence of the victim.

“Sometimes we've had to summons the victim to court, sadly, but there are ways and means by which we can prosecute these cases, which are evidence led.

“So, we may have CCTV evidence, we may have diary evidence, for example, we may have recordings, we may have disclosure to third parties, all of that will count as evidence.

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Under reported crime

Data provided by one campaign group, Karma Nirva, demonstrated the difference between its figures and the numbers reported to the police.

Unlike official figures, its statistics suggest a 17 per cent increase year on year.

More than 9,500 victims contacted Karma Nirvana during 2023 and 2024.

Of these, the group handled almost 3,000 cases.

Worryingly, more than 90 cases involved children under 15, and almost 10 were not younger than 10 years old.

Last week (17) Narwal organised the first multi-agency honour based conference in Birmingham.

The conference aimed to break the code of silence among communities and increase awareness of the crime.

Speakers included Jess Phillips, the minister for safeguarding and violence against women and girls.

“There is no honour in ‘honour’-based abuse which is a serious crime and a human rights abuse,” she said.

“No one should have to experience it.

“This conference marks a crucial step in bringing together the Home Office, Crown Prosecution Service, the police, and specialist sector organisations to raise awareness about these crimes, and to consider how we strengthen our approach to tackling them.

“This government will use every tool available to crack down on 'honour'-based abuse as part of our mission to halve violence against women and girls within a decade.”

In July 2023, the women and equalities committee (WEC) called for a legal definition of honour based abuse.

But the then Conservative government rejected the idea.

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Legal definition

Narwal explained that ‘honour based abuse’ was an umbrella term for domestic or sexual abuse, forced marriage or female genital mutilation (FGM).

She said these offences were often carried out by the victim’s families, relatives, or members of their community in the name of ‘izzat’ (honour).

London North’s chief prosecutor told Eastern Eye that the CPS would welcome a statutory definition.

"That would mean that there's clarity for prosecutors, for investigators, the police and it would also help with a statutory definition when it comes to sentencing as well for judges.

"We've got a definition of domestic abuse, that came into place two or three years ago.

"We've actually got forced marriage as an offence now, we didn't have that as a statutory offence until 2014.

"So, I think honour based abuse probably does need to catch up and give it that attention and focus that forced marriage and FGM has as well, together with child marriage too, all of those matters including virginity testing, hymenoplasty are all set in legislation now.

"Honour based abuse, because it's not a single offence, doesn't find its way into the statute books as an offence, but it ought to be considered as a statutory definition so there's clarity."

Some so-called community leaders accuse the government and other agencies of interfering with what they regard as part of their culture.

Narwal also revealed that some educated professionals including doctors and dentists defend the practice.

At the height of the pandemic (May 2020), Eastern Eye exposed how young men had replaced their parents as abusers, coercively controlling their mainly young female victims.

‘Shocking’ change

Narwal confirmed that the level of misogyny had increased.

“There seems to be this sense of misplaced responsibility that some of the younger male generation seem to take on, and they think they're carrying on the good work in protecting the so-called honour of the family or the community by continuing with the honour based abuse,” she continued.

“It is shocking when you think the second, third generation think it's OK to continue to do this.

“They've been born here, their parents may have been born here as well.

“But to carry out some of these barbaric practises, and they are barbaric, if you're locking up young women in their rooms, you're taking away any way of them contacting the outside world.

“You're controlling them financially, you're telling them what they can wear, who they can speak to, who they can be friends with, that's taking away their basic human rights.”

She wanted to stress to victims that they should not be scared because the authorities would help them.

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But London North’s chief prosecutor aimed her strongest message to the perpetrators.

“There's no cultural element to it,” said Narwal. “It's quite simple, it's the law, and the law will be applied, and if you've broken the law, then we'll come after you, it's as simple as that.

“Trying to shroud it in something that it's not, isn't helpful, it's not going to divert our attention.

“We're not going to be afraid to pursue these cases, and we're not going to be accused of racism or cultural insensitivity.

“We've got to think about the victims in this case.

“The victims are protected by the law, and we will apply that law and pursue these cases vigorously.”