A by-and-for charity, and a helpline since 2008#
Karma Nirvana has supported people affected by honour-based abuse since 1993, and set up its national helpline in 2008. It is a "by and for" organisation: many of its staff have lived experience of different cultures and of honour-based abuse. It recorded 2,962 cases in 2023 to 2024. As well as the helpline it trains professionals, publishes data, campaigns for a statutory definition of honour-based abuse, and offers a free online counselling service for survivors and, in Leeds only, Sanctuary Support for people living in safe accommodation.
Calling the helpline without giving yourself away#
The helpline is free and open on weekdays in office hours, closed on bank holidays, with voicemail and email at other times. It helps people of every background, age, gender, sexuality and faith, including men, and offers support in Hindi, Punjabi and Urdu as well as English. Its FAQs answer the questions people worry about most:
- You can stay anonymous and use a made-up name. Calls are not recorded.
- The number does not appear on mobile bills, though it does stay in your phone's call history, which you may want to clear.
- When the team rings back, the call comes from a withheld number, and you can book a callback for a safe time.
- The contact form accepts a codeword in place of your name.
The team listens, explains your options, helps find refuge space through the national Routes to Support database, and signposts to local services. It does not tell your family you have been in touch.
Passports, and being taken abroad#
Karma Nirvana's page for anyone at risk of a forced marriage abroad is practical about documents. Before you travel, it suggests keeping a photocopy or picture of your passport and tickets, a spare phone, money in both currencies, and contact details for a trusted friend and the British embassy or high commission. If you are abroad without your passport, a British national can be issued an emergency one, so it helps to note your passport number before you go. The Forced Marriage Unit arranges the return.
A new name when family may be searching#
Some survivors decide later to change their name. Three points from GOV.UK matter most when the people you fear are relatives:
- Keep the deed to yourself. A deed poll you make at 16 or over goes on no register, and nobody is notified that it exists.
- Think twice about enrolling. Enrolment costs £53.05 and ends in a Gazette notice that anyone searching can read, address included, unless the judge allows a shorter version. GOV.UK adds that a married applicant can be asked to supply a husband's or wife's written consent; the private deed asks for no one's.
- Pick witnesses from outside the family. You need two witnesses aged 18 or over, and GOV.UK cautions that a relative or someone at your address may lead some organisations to refuse the deed. A support worker or a friend your family does not know is the safer choice.
A passport in your new name comes from HM Passport Office, and our guide to the passport office explains what it asks for.
More on witnesses and privacy#
- Who can witness a deed poll?: the rules and the practical choices.
- The Halo Project: the Forced Marriage Unit's handbook on getting a new identity.
- Can someone find out my new name?.
- Charities that help after domestic abuse.
This page describes what Karma Nirvana publishes on its website, read on 26 October 2026. Karma Nirvana has not reviewed it, and listing it here does not mean it recommends this handbook or any deed poll service.
