Writing in 2009, criminologist Aisha Gill noted that little research had taken place into honour crimes in the UK, and that this lack of evidence was "particularly marked in the case of Iranian and Kurdish communities, where the incidence of honor crimes is increasing". A report published by the Centre for Gender and Violence Research at the University of Bristol and the University of Roehampton in 2010 notes that "it is important to recognize that it is not possible to associate honour-based violence with one particular religion...or culture", but also concludes that "[h]onour-based violence remains prevalent in Kurdish communities in different locations", including the UK. The report finds that "the patriarchal or male-dominated values that underpin these communities often conflict with the values, and even laws, of mainstream UK society. This makes it particularly hard for second or third generation women to define their own values...Instances of HBV [honour-based violence] often result from conflicting attitudes towards life and family codes".
Banaz Mahmod, a 20-year-old Iraqi Kurd woman from Mitcham, south London, was killed in 2006, in a murder orchestrated by her father, uncle and cousins. Her life and murder were presented in a documentary called
Banaz: A Love Story, directed and produced by
Deeyah Khan. Other examples include the first honour killing to be legally recognised in the UK, which was that of
Heshu Yones, who was stabbed to death by her Kurdish father in London in 2002 when her family discovered she had a Lebanese Christian boyfriend, and the killing of
Tulay Goren, a Kurdish Muslim girl who immigrated with her family from Turkey. The Centre for Gender and Violence Research report finds that: "Both HBV survivors and women's NGOs working with them continue to encounter inadequate responses and poor practice which needs to be addressed, as well as potentially racist, judgmental and stigmatizing attitudes". Other UK-based Kurdish organisations attempting to tackle the issue of honour killings include Kurdish Women Action Against Honour Killing. ==Notable people==