I was dismayed to read that a review has found almost all our police services in England and Wales inadequately prepared to tackle crimes of honour-based violence, forced marriage and female genital mutilation.
Sadly, South West forces failed the inspection.
We must not fall into the trap of considering these problems to be restricted to particular sections of the broader community, and therefore not a general concern.
Wrong is wrong, crime is crime, wherever it happens and whomsoever it involves. It must be tackled without fear or favour and there must certainly be no blind eye turned because of misplaced sensitivity or sense of communal harmony.
Decent members of society condemn these crimes regardless of colour, race or religion.
Now, I am second to none in my respect for the police and I am confident our officers want to do their best in these difficult areas. My suspicion is that they just have not been quite quick enough in responding to a changing society.
However, we have already seen too much misery from forced marriage, too may so-called honour killings – and FGM has been a criminal offence in Britain for several years.
Time, surely, to make tackling these insidious offences part of the mainstream of our crime-fighting strategies.
Regards,
Julie Girling MEP
Member of the Women’s Rights & Gender Equality Committee in the European Parliament
