London: Faced with increasing incidents of forced marriages and honour killings in the Asian community, the British government has set up new national helpline to help potential victims.

The helpline, called the Honour Network, will be run by the charity organisation Karma Nirvana. It is a dedicated forced marriage and honour-based violence helpline, staffed by survivors offering emotional and practical support.

"This helpline is a big step in the fight to raise awareness of the issues of forced marriage and honour-based violence and is crucial in giving victims across the country the confidence to come forward," Home Office minister Vernon Coaker said while launching the helpline.

We recognise that the scale of these issues remains unknown and much of the problem stays underground. We are determined across Government to continue engaging with local communities and taking action to protect victims to put an end to this appalling practice, he added.

Many youths were reportedly lured to go on "holiday" to countries in south Asia by family members, and then forced to marry against their will. Refusal or resistance has often led to violence, including murder.

The Foreign Office has a dedicated Forced Marriage Unit to deal with such incidents in the Indian sub-continent. Set up in 2005 and it handles 5000 enquiries and up to 400 cases per year.

"The Honour Network is designed for victims, survivors or potential victims of honour based crimes to reassure them they are victims not perpetrators," Jasvinder Sanghera, founder of Karma Nirvana said.
Source : PTI