Sussex Police aim to improve 'honour' violence awareness
Sussex Police have held a conference in an attempt to raise awareness of "honour-based" violence in the county.
Officers said between April 2011 and March 2012 they received 20 reports of domestic abuse linked with a desire to protect the honour of a family.
Nine of these were recorded as crimes, six resulted in charges and the rest were referred to charities for help.
The conference took place place in Slaugham with help from national charity Karma Nirvana.
Det Sgt Hari Flanagan, from Sussex Police, said: "This is a really complex and sensitive subject, affecting men and women, and we should be wary of drawing general conclusions from any individual cases.
"This can affect any community, but in particular Gypsy, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Indian, Turkish, Kurdish, Afghani, African, Middle Eastern, Southern and eastern European communities are most affected."
The conference was attended by representatives from victim support charities, the Crown Prosecution Service, the NHS, West and East Sussex County Councils and Gatwick Airport.