Nearly 3,000 honor attacks were recorded by police in Britain in 2010

According to figures obtained by the Iranian and Kurdish Women's Rights Organization (Ikwro), at least 2,823 incidents of honor-based violence took place, with the highest number recorded in London. The charity said the statistics fail to provide the full picture of the levels of honor violence in Britain , but are the best national estimate so far. The data, taken from from 39 out of 52 British forces, was released following a freedom of information request by Ikwro. In total, eight police forces recorded more than 100 honor-related attacks in 2010. The Metropolitan Police saw 495 incidents, with 378 reported in the West Midlands, 350 in West Yorkshire, 227 in Lancashire and 189 in Greater Manchester. Cleveland recorded 153, while Suffolk and Bedfordshire saw 118 and 117 respectively, according to the figures. Between the 12 forces able to provide figures from 2009, there was an overall 47% rise in honor attack incidents. Police in Northumbria saw a 305% increase from 17 incidents in 2009 to 69 in 2010, while Cambridgeshire saw a 154% jump from 11 to 28. A quarter of police forces in Britain were unable or unwilling to provide data, Ikwro said. Honor attacks are punishments usually carried out against Muslim women who have been accused of bringing shame on their family and in the past have included abductions, mutilations, beatings and murder. Ikwro director Diana Nammi said that families often deny the existence of the attacks. Honor crimes mostly happen in South Asian and Middle Eastern communities. Some of the things that are considered to be dishonourable include: having a boyfriend, being a victim of rape, refusing an arranged marriage, being gay or lesbian and in some cases wearing make-up or inappropriate dress. In 2006, Banaz Mahmod, from Mitcham, south London, was strangled on the orders of her father and uncle because they thought her boyfriend was unsuitable. Cousins Mohammed Saleh Ali and Omar Hussein, both 28, were jailed in 2010 for a minimum of 22 and 21 years respectively for the honor killing of the 20-year-old Iraqi Kurd. The victim's father Mahmod Mahmod and uncle Ari Mahmod were jailed for life at the Old Bailey in 2007.