CHOICE

On 16 November 2007, Cleveland Police set up the CHOICE helpline - a dedicated local helpline to give advice and assistance to anyone who may be suffering from honour based violence, or has been, or may be forced into marriage. All the helpline staff  have been trained in cultural awareness around honour based violence and forced marriage and treat all calls in the strictest confidence.

On 3 December 2008, the helpline was expanded with the help of Northumbria Police and Durham Constabulary to become a regional helpline for the North East of England. The organisers regularly feed in to the Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Conference (MARAC) and in high risk cases hold emergency MARACs. They have built local protocols with housing
authorities in the area and refuges. In May 2009, CHOICE employed a forced marriage support worker with funding from Stockton Primary Care Trust to deliver training on honour based violence and forced marriage to police, voluntary and statutory agencies as well as in schools.

This multi-agency approach has paid dividends: between the opening of the helpline in late 2007 to 1 April 2009, Cleveland has received nearly 400 calls and successfully dealt with nearly 80 cases.