A woman who exposed her mother-in-law as a killer is trying to raise awareness of so-called honour-based violence in Hounslow.
Sarbjit Athwal, who grew up in the borough, is launching a series of coffee mornings aimed at ending forced marriage, female genital mutilation (FGM) and attacks on those accused of bringing shame on their families.
She has been awarded £500 by Hounslow Council to run the sessions in the area of Cranford and Heston, and she hopes to start them in September, subject to finding a suitable venue in time.
Ms Athwal risked her life to help bring her mother-in-law Bachan Athwal to justice for arranging the murder of Bachan's daughter-in-law Surjit Athwal.
Bachan, who believed Surjit had brought shame on the family by starting an affair, and her son Sukhdave Athwal were jailed in 2007 for murder.
Sarbjit has since devoted her life to ending honour-based violence, most recently setting up the organisation True Honour to raise awareness of the issue and help victims come forward.
The coffee mornings will be open to anyone but she is particularly keen to reach out to older members of the Asian community to prevent misguided concepts of honour being passed down to younger generations.
People attending the sessions can get information in Punjabi about Forced Marriage Protection Orders, which can be issued to protect people who are being forced into marriage or are already in a forced marriage. Anyone found breaching such an order can be jailed for up to two years.
"The senior members of a family are normally the ones who filter down ideas about 'honour' to their children and grandchildren," said Sarabjit.
"If they understand what's right and wrong we can stop false ideas about 'honour' being spread and hopefully put an end to honour based violence."
For more about True Honour, visit www.truehonour.org.uk.
