“Honour”-based violence, abuse and forced marriage offences are being carried out online, police and prosecutors warned yesterday.
Families and friends are attempting to coerce and control victims online or use the internet to look for them.
Police and prosecutors have published a protocol highlighting the importance of building the strongest possible case against alleged perpetrators.
It warned of evidence that the risk to victims increases after they have gone to the police to seek help. Their family or members of their community may go to great lengths to discover their whereabouts once a crime has been reported, the protocol highlighted.
It said: “The risks to the victim from her/his family, the offender’s family and the community should be considered; not just the direct risk of the immediate perpetrator(s) on the victim.”
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Jenny Hopkins, the chief crown prosecutor for CPS East of England, who specialises in cases of violence against women and girls, said: “We know offenders follow a course of conduct which is used to control, coerce, dominate or exploit a victim.”
The document said many offences, including kidnap and rape, could be committed in the context of honour-based violence, abuse and forced marriage.