Honour-Based Abuse and Family Protection

What Honour-Based Abuse Is

There is no single offence called honour-based abuse, and no statutory definition is yet in force. The Crown Prosecution Service describes it as an incident or crime involving violence, threats, intimidation, coercion or abuse, whether psychological, physical, sexual, financial or emotional, committed or possibly committed to protect or defend the honour of an individual, family or community for alleged or perceived breaches of the family or community's code of behaviour. The Home Office statutory guidance on domestic abuse adds that it is typically carried out by a member or members of the family or extended family.

In practice that can mean being watched, having your phone or passport taken, being stopped from working or studying, being threatened over a relationship or a decision to leave, pressure to marry, or the threat of female genital mutilation; the guidance describes forced marriage and FGM as potential forms of honour-based abuse.

The Domestic Abuse Act 2021 defines domestic abuse as abusive behaviour between two people aged 16 or over who are personally connected, and relatives are personally connected. Abusive behaviour covers physical or sexual abuse, violent or threatening behaviour, controlling or coercive behaviour, economic abuse and psychological, emotional or other abuse, whether a single incident or a course of conduct. A child who sees, hears or experiences the effects of the abuse and is related to either person is a victim in their own right.

Section 144 of the Crime and Policing Act 2026 contains the first statutory definition of honour-based abuse. It is not in force as at 3 October 2026 and serves statutory guidance to public authorities rather than creating a new offence or court order.

If you are in immediate danger call 999; the National Domestic Abuse Helpline is free on 0808 2000 247 and the government's Forced Marriage Unit gives advice and support on 020 7008 0151.

The Family Court Orders That Can Protect You

A non-molestation order under section 42 of the Family Law Act 1996 forbids a named person from molesting you or a relevant child. You can apply against anyone you are associated with under section 62, and relatives are associated persons: your parent, step-parent, child, step-child, grandparent or grandchild, and your brother, sister, uncle, aunt, niece, nephew or first cousin, whether of the full or half blood or by marriage or civil partnership. The same relatives of your spouse, former spouse, civil partner or former civil partner are also associated persons. Someone you have lived with in the same household, other than as an employee, tenant, lodger or boarder, is also associated.

Where the risk is a marriage you have not agreed to, a forced marriage protection order under Part 4A of the same Act can be made against anyone forcing or attempting to force the marriage and anyone aiding, abetting, counselling, procuring, encouraging or assisting them, whether or not they are relatives, and its terms can cover conduct outside England and Wales. Where a girl or woman is at risk of female genital mutilation, an FGM protection order under Schedule 2 to the Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003 works in a similar way and can also reach conduct abroad.

Where a child might be taken abroad, a prohibited steps order under section 8 of the Children Act 1989 stops a step a parent could otherwise take without the court's consent. An occupation order decides who may live in the family home, but only a person entitled to occupy it, or a spouse, civil partner, cohabitant or former partner, can apply for one under sections 33 to 38. Domestic abuse protection orders are covered on our domestic abuse injunctions hub.

Any criminal investigation is a matter for the police.

The Test the Court Applies and Acting Without Notice

For a non-molestation order the court considers all the circumstances, including the need to secure the health, safety and well-being of you and any relevant child. A forced marriage protection order uses a similar test, directed at the health, safety and well-being of the person to be protected, and the court must also have such regard to that person's wishes and feelings, so far as they are reasonably ascertainable, as it considers appropriate in the light of their age and understanding. Force includes coercion by threats or other psychological means, so being made to feel you are bringing shame on the family counts as well as violence.

The court can make either order without notice where it is just and convenient to do so, having regard to any risk of significant harm if the order is not made immediately, whether you would be deterred or prevented from pursuing the application, and whether the respondent is deliberately evading service. A full hearing follows at which the respondent can make representations. Our without notice applications and emergency injunctions pages cover the practicalities.

Breaking a non-molestation order without reasonable excuse is a criminal offence carrying up to five years' imprisonment on indictment, and breach of a forced marriage protection order or an FGM protection order is punished in the same way. Where the order was made without notice, the person can only be guilty of conduct at a time when they were aware of it, which is why service matters. Our page on breach of a non-molestation order covers undertakings and enforcement.

Evidence and Common Problems

Your witness statement is the heart of the application. It needs to set out who is involved and how you are related to each of them, the pattern of pressure and control as well as any single incident, what has been said about marriage, travel, shame or punishment, and why you fear what will happen next. If you ask the court to act without notice, the statement must give the reasons. Messages, voice notes, travel bookings, a passport that has been taken, and letters from a school, college, GP or support worker all help.

Problems we see often:

• a first statement that describes only the last incident and leaves out years of control, or plays down what has happened
• pressure from the family or community to withdraw once they learn of the application, which is why we ask the court to act without notice where the test is met
• fear of being found: form C8 asks the court to keep your address and contact details private from the other parties, and the papers are served by your solicitor, by the court if you ask when acting in person, or by a process server, never by you
• the person threatening you is a community figure rather than a relative, so a different remedy is needed
• fear of facing the family in court: where you are, or are at risk of being, a victim of domestic abuse by a party or a relative of a party, the court must consider measures such as screens, a live link or an intermediary

How the Application Process Works

1. Free 15-minute consultation, at 42 Shad Thames or by phone, to advise which order or combination fits and whether to ask the court to act without notice.
2. Papers. We draft form FL401, or FL401A for a forced marriage protection order, your witness statement, form C8, and a draft order naming each respondent and the terms sought.
3. Issue. The application goes to a family court that deals with domestic abuse cases, online, by email, by post or in person.
4. Service. The respondent is served personally with the application and statement, never by you.
5. The hearing. Hearings are in private. The court can make a final order, continue an interim order or accept an undertaking, and participation directions can keep you from seeing the family in the building.
6. Afterwards. Each respondent is served personally with the order, we deliver a copy of a non-molestation order and the statement of service to the police, either side can apply to vary or discharge it, and an extension is sought before it runs out.

When Legal Advice Is Especially Important

Advice matters most where:

• travel abroad is planned or a passport has been taken, and an order needs to be in place before the date
• several relatives, in more than one household or country, are involved and each needs to be named correctly
• you are under 18, or applying for someone who is, so who applies, and whether permission or a litigation friend is needed, comes first
• the marriage has already taken place, here or abroad, and you need protection from what follows
• there are children: Practice Direction 12J lists forced marriage, honour-based abuse, dowry-related abuse and transnational marriage abandonment as domestic abuse in any case about child arrangements, see domestic abuse and child arrangements
• your permission to stay in the UK depends on a partner or relative; the immigration position is on our settlement after domestic abuse page

How RakLAW Solicitors Can Help

We act in honour-based abuse cases from our office at 42 Shad Thames in Southwark, a short walk from Tower Bridge, for the person at risk, for a relative or friend applying on their behalf, and for people who have been served with an application. RakLAW Solicitors is privately funded and does not offer legal aid; the firm was founded by solicitor Rakesh Prajapati.

Our charges are on the family law fees page. To talk it through in confidence, book an appointment or call 0203 345 2000 for a free 15-minute consultation.