Violence and Abuse

Abuse is any behaviour used to scare, harm, threaten, control or intimidate another person. It can take many forms and may overlap.

BAMER women face additional barriers language, cultural pressure, immigration uncertainty, and the perception that mainstream services may not understand their context. Ashiana exists to remove those barriers.

If you feel scared, controlled, or unsafe, please call us in confidence on 0114 255 5740 or the National Domestic Abuse Helpline on 0808 200 0247.

Domestic Abuse can come in different forms physical, emotional, verbal, sexual and financial and takes place within an intimate or family-type relationship that forms a pattern of coercive and controlling behaviour.

The complex nature of the domestic abuse experienced by BAMER women includes the harmful practices of 'honour'-based violence, forced marriage and female genital mutilation, often perpetrated by multiple family members and others in communities.

A forced marriage is one in which one or both spouses do not (or in the case of some adults with learning or physical disabilities, cannot) consent and duress is involved. Duress can include physical, psychological, financial, sexual and emotional pressure.

Forced marriage is a crime in England and Wales since June 2014, carrying a sentence of up to 7 years' imprisonment. The law also criminalises forcing a British national into marriage outside the UK.

Financial abuse is a deeply harmful but often hidden form of coercive control. A partner or family member may stop you from working, withhold money, run up debt in your name, take wages or benefits, control bank cards and accounts, or refuse to pay for essentials like food, fuel or clothing for children.

It frequently overlaps with other forms of abuse, and for women who came to the UK as a spouse or with no recourse to public funds, financial abuse can feel like an inescapable trap. Ashiana works alongside specialist advocates and immigration solicitors to help survivors access emergency funds, open safe bank accounts, and recover their financial independence step by step.

You are not alone, and you do not need to have left the relationship to ask for help.

The CPS describes 'honour'-based violence as an incident or crime "which has or may have been committed to protect or defend the honour of the family and or the community". HBV is usually carried out by immediate family members, sometimes with the involvement of relatives and the wider community.

Examples include forced marriage, sexual violence, threats to kill, denial of access to children, pressure to move abroad, house arrest, denial of communication, and denial of passport and documentation.

FGM describes a range of procedures involving partial or total removal of the external female genitalia for non-medical reasons. There are no health benefits to FGM and the process causes immediate and long-term physical and psychological harm.

It is illegal in the UK to carry out FGM, to take a British national or permanent resident abroad for FGM, or to help facilitate it. The maximum sentence is 14 years.

Trafficking is the movement of people through threat or use of force, coercion or deception typically for sexual exploitation, forced labour, domestic servitude, slavery or the removal of organs.

Ashiana provides specialist accommodation and outreach support to survivors of trafficking across Yorkshire and Humberside, North East, East Midlands and the North West of England.

Child sexual exploitation (CSE) is a form of sexual abuse that involves the manipulation or coercion of young people under 18 into sexual activity. The common theme is the imbalance of power and the control exerted on young people by the exploiter.

It can involve violent, humiliating and degrading sexual assaults sometimes in exchange for money, drugs, gifts, affection or status. CSE doesn't always involve physical contact and can happen online.