Honour crimes infringe human rights - senior CPS London lawyer
Murder, sexual offences, abductions, assaults, false imprisonments and forced marriages are all crimes carried out in the name of honour and they continue to blight our communities said Nazir Afzal, the CPS's lead lawyer on honour crimes.
"You can be assured that the police and CPS will not shirk their responsibility to bring all offenders to justice.
"We want no hidden victims and no hiding place for perpetrators," said Mr Afzal, who organised the first ever CPS conference on honour crimes just over two years ago, speaking today (8 March) at the International Women's Day Conference in Wales.
Organised by the All Wales Saheli Association, the conference was looking at the challenges for public and voluntary sector service providers with the rise in honour-based violence.
"With honour crimes, is there a link with radicalism/extremism and all that that leads to?
"You need only to study research, such as that by Professor Hillyard at Queens University, to recognise the identities, ideologies and misconceived religious/socio-political issues that surrounded Irish involvement in terrorist acts.
"At least two female suicide bombers in recent months have had their terrible acts attributed to a choice die for dishonouring your family or die in so-called jihad.
"In the UK case of B, there was an established link between radicalism and HBV. The threats to kill aimed at Miss B may have come from her family, but they originated in an Egyptian terrorist group who felt it was their job to enforce social order and women's place in society.
"In the murder of Heshu Yones, substantial questions were raised about how the killer managed to raise £150,000 as a potential security given his limited funds, and the trail appeared to lead to Kurdish nationalist groups.
"Is it a surprise then that mainly second- generation youth might be persuaded or indoctrinated into having exaggerated concepts of 'home' and endorsed to encourage the mainly tribalistic customs, which are in turn considered to give the individual identity and ethnicity?
"If charity begins at home, why shouldn't the radicalism that breeds terrorism? There is more than one way to tackle the perceived home grown terrorist problem.
"There are a tremendous number of positive aspects to honour. But dignity consists in not possessing honour, but in deserving it. Many of these women have a life that is full of misery, loneliness and suffering, and for some, it's all over much too soon."
Mr Afzal added that much has been and continues to be done to deal with honour-based violence.
"We prosecute with the full force of the law those that harm others in the name of honour. We are determined to bring to justice all who have a responsibility for harming victims and those who organised or are involved in it are now at risk.
"Under the new Domestic Violence Crime and Victims Act if you fail to intervene to protect your family member from harm you too can face a significant period of imprisonment.
"We are developing multi-agency partnerships for prevention, educating young people about women's rights and in speaking to the community, challenging and confronting views which may not be openly expressed.
"Only then will we break the cycle of violence that leads to the tragic cases that we have to confront. The battle against radicalism shares with this battle, the need to win hearts and minds."