University News Last updated 13 May 2011
Honour based violence was under the spotlight in a criminal investigation seminar being held by the Centre of Applied Criminology (CAC) at Birmingham City University, in conjunction with West Midlands Police, recently.
The event explored the many issues raised by Honour Based Violent crimes taking a look at the community perspective, the national Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) perspective and the investigation and prosecution of honour based violence.
Nick Howe, Senior Lecturer in Criminal Investigation at Birmingham City University, said: “Honour based violence and forced marriage incidents are issues that transcend all. Investigating reports of honour based violence require specialist skills and investigators must be familiar with the actions required to investigate such incidents in order to safeguard victims and associated individuals.
“However the identification of the warning signs which indicate that someone may be the victim of honour based violence is something which we all can learn in order to become confident to support victims at an extremely difficult time.
“This conference addressed these issues from a community, local and national perspective and culminates in a real-life case study highlighting the practical challenges in a successful honour based violence investigation.
The event boasted a distinguished group of subject matter experts who explored the many aspects surrounding honour based violence. Speakers included Nazir Afzal OBE Chief Crown Prosecutor (CPS) for the North of England who has successfully prosecuted a number of high profile honour based violence cases.
Mak Ali Chishty, based at Warwickshire Police and is the ACPO Programme Director for Honour Based Violence, Forced Marriage and Female Genital Mutilation and Detective was also a speaker, along with Constable Harjindra Rennison, who is currently an Adult Abuse Investigator based within the Public Protection Unit of West Midlands Police.
“This event further reinforces Birmingham City University’s commitment to studying and researching criminal investigation. We aspire to be a centre of excellence in this regard and the seminars are evidence of our ambition and it is great that we have secured such high profile speakers,” Nick Howe added.
The Centre for Applied Criminology (CAC) at Birmingham City University is strongly committed to excellence in the research of criminology and all aspects of criminology and the criminal justice system. CAC’s impressive track record for research in a diverse range of subject areas has ensured the Centre’s involvement with countless high profile, innovative projects the Centre prides itself on its high quality work and regularly hosts seminars and events.
Birmingham City University is running a major awareness campaign in the Midlands to demonstrate how it is upgrading the future of individuals and companies. To find out more, visit www.bcu.ac.uk