The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) have updated their Prosecution Guidance on ‘honour’-based abuse, forced marriage, and harmful practices to, for the first time, include spiritual and immigration abuse.
The purpose of the guidance is to assist prosecutors to build cases where these types of abuse or harmful practices are present, including what charges may be available, and how to ensure a victim centric approach to the case.
The guidance describes spiritual abuse as abuse related to faith, belief or ritual and can be committed in a number of ways, including financial abuse, physical and emotional violence, sexual abuse or even homicide. Immigration abuse can occur when someone controls or manipulates a person’s immigration status, which can lead to abuse or entrapment. This may include withholding documents, financial control, threats to report victims to the police or home office or denial of access to support services.
Whilst the guidance notes that these are not stand-alone offences, prosecutors should consider a range of offences on a case-by-case basis, including forced marriage, sexual offences, or coercive and controlling behaviour offences. Indeed, these types of abuse may likely be committed in tandem with these offences.
The types of abuse covered by this CPS Guidance can readily be linked to modern slavery offending. For example, victims of domestic servitude may have their passports or travel documents withheld, or may be threatened with deportation. This in turn makes it difficult for victims to leave their exploiters or seek help from the authorities.
Importantly, the update reflects increasing recognition of the varying ways that victims may be subjected to abuse; and notably, often suffered by women and girls. Prosecution of these types of cases requires a victim-aware approach. As such, the guidance has also been updated to reflect the need for victim safeguarding and support, including culturally informed expert evidence and evidence-led prosecutions where victims cannot safely engage.
The full CPS Guidance can be read here.
Southwell & Partners advises on forced marriage, spiritual abuse, and immigration abuse cases. For advice on such cases, please contact our firm.
