19th September 2024
The Institute of Health Visiting is delighted to launch a new Good Practice Point to support health visitors and skill mix teams in their roles of working with parents and children who may be at risk or have experienced a forced marriage.
Amanda Holland, Professional Services Lead, iHV, collaborated with experts Asma Ashraf and Diana De to co-author this Good Practice Point.
Forced marriage in the UK is a form of domestic abuse, a criminal offence and serious abuse of human rights – as such, it is a public health concern. Forced marriage can be linked to so-called honour-based abuse and it is important that the connection between the two is understood.
This GPP sets out UK legislation on the age of consent for marriage, explores why forced marriage matters and supports an understanding of the connection between forced marriage and so-called honour-based abuse. It provides good practice points to support health visiting practitioners working with victims, survivors and those at risk of forced marriage.
Amanda Holland commented:
“This is a much-needed resource which will support health visitors and skill mix teams in their roles of working with victims and survivors of forced marriage. Due to their universal reach, health visitors and skill mix teams are in a privileged position to make every contact count, identifying and supporting individuals affected by forced marriage. There may only be ‘one chance’ to recognise the signs of forced marriage and maybe only one chance to save a life.
“This GPP will support practitioners with increasing their knowledge in this important area of practice, to act on their suspicion and make the most of the ‘one chance’ opportunity. It’s been a privilege to work with experts in this field – huge thanks to Asma Ashraf and Diana De for sharing their expertise to co-develop this important GPP.”
Asma Ashraf, Lecturer, School of Health and Psychological Sciences, City St George’s, University of London, said:
“As a nurse with nearly 30 years’ experience, I want people to feel safe and speak to me about what is happening for them. As someone who has experienced so-called honour-based abuse, I feel it is important that healthcare workers connect with the people they care for to safeguard and support them. This resource will provide health visitors and skill mix teams with good practice points to support their assessment to protect vulnerable people.
“This collaboration is an important part of the ongoing work I do to raise awareness of forced marriage and honour-based abuse. Thank you to Amanda Holland, Diana De and iHV for working together on this resource.”
Diana De, Reader, School of Healthcare Sciences, Cardiff University
“Collaborating with colleagues from iHV to contemporise this GPP is important for drawing more attention by health visitors to this important issue. It also helps promote cultural safety and victim support.”
For more information and to access the extensive range of iHV member benefits, such as Good Practice Points, click here.
If you are not already a member of iHV, you can find out more here and sign up for membership today.
