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Lottery funding to tackle honour abuse head on

A unique project supporting victims of honour abuse within Edinburgh’s black and minority ethnic communities, today  receives £786,814 from the Big Lottery Fund.

Over four years, the Bright Choices project, will support 130 families across Edinburgh affected by honour abuse – which are violent crimes thought justified to protect or restore the 'honour' of a family.

Developed in consultation with Police Scotland, the project is a new partnership betweenSacro, Edinburgh and Lothians Regional Equality Council and Multi-Cultural Family Base.

In a recent survey of 300 Edinburgh residents, carried out by Edinburgh and Lothians Regional Equality Council, 63% of people stated that honour abuse was a part of their family’s belief system while 52% said that “honour” would prevent them reporting a crime to the police.

In Edinburgh and the Lothians, a sharp rise in honour abuse has been identified both by the Police and by local voluntary organisations. Lothian & Borders Police dealt with 41 such incidents in 2012, compared with 31 in the previous two years, although only seven of these resulted in charges being made, an indication of the difficulties and sensitivities involved in investigating such cases. Reported incidents, however, are widely accepted as being only a fraction of the actual levels of abuse occurring within communities.

Through this partnership project, each organisation will play its only distinct role in raising awareness of the impact of honour abuse within communities, as well as providing counselling and mediation for families and therapeutic play for children.

Ian McDonough from Sacro, said: “We will use restorative and mediation approaches to dealing with individual cases which have not resulted in formal action such as criminal prosecution but present indications that honour abuse is an actual or potential issue. Restorative approaches focus on repairing harm done to individuals and relationships by assisting people who have caused harm to acknowledge this and make amends and assisting those harmed to have reparation made to them.”

Steve Gowenlock from Multi-Cultural Family Base, said: ‘We will offer one-to-one support using a counselling skills approach with the aim of helping an individual to make informed choices about their options.  Family and group work for children, young people or adults will be offered aimed at improving family communication and functioning while play based approaches will be used with children.”

Ekta Marwaha of Edinburgh and Lothians Regional Equality Council, added: “Our role within this project will be to provide community engagement and an extensive outreach strategy. As an organisation our focus will be to raise awareness, provide initial advice, liaise with and provide training for professionals, community groups and organisations on the impact of ‘honour abuse’ and highlight the best methodologies for intervention.” 

Announcing today’s award, Big Lottery Fund Scotland Chair, Maureen McGinn, said: “This project represents a new approach to helping black and minority ethnic families affected by honour abuse. At the Big Lottery Fund we are keen to support such an intervention which brings together the skills, experience and knowledge of a range of partner organisations.  Working in partnership, they’ll engage with, and support families at as early a stage possible whilst raising awareness and tackling this complex subject matter head on.”

SACRO is one of 11 groups receiving funding, totalling £6,599,118, from the Big Lottery Fund’s Investing in Communities fund.

Big Lottery Fund Press Office: 0141 242 1458
Website: www.biglotteryfund.org.uk
Twitter: @BIGScotland #biglf 
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Notes to editors

  • The Big Lottery Fund is responsible for giving out 40% of the money raised by the National Lottery.
  • The Fund is committed to bringing real improvements to communities and the lives of people most in need and has been rolling out grants to health, education, environment and charitable causes across the UK. Since its inception in 2004 it has awarded close to £6bn.
  • In the year ending 31 March 2013, 28% of total National Lottery revenue was awarded to projects. Since the National Lottery began in 1994, £31 billion has been raised and more than 400,000 grants awarded.

 

Channel website: https://www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/

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