Practitioner Views on Defining ‘Honour’-Based Abuse: A Focus on Atypical Cases

Abstract

‘Honour’-based abuse (HBA) is debated to be a gendered and cultural form of domestic abuse (DA). However, such narrow approaches exclude a sizeable minority of ‘atypical cases’, including male victims and non-Muslim communities, causing misunderstandings and inefficient responses. Accordingly, this study presents the findings of thematic analysis conducted on 10 interviews with HBA experts to explore how HBA should be conceptualised with consideration of ‘atypical’ cases. Results highlight four themes relating to the need to distinguish HBA from DA (Honour as motivation, Multiple perpetrators) and to recognise that HBA can affect anyone (Poor understanding of HBA, Different risks in different populations). Findings highlight characteristics distinctive of HBA across all case-types, stressing that it is not always domestic or dyadic. Findings also highlight that HBA can present differently across different populations. The implications of these findings for policy and practice are discussed, along with important avenues for future research.