Peeler is a new play that directly addresses Honour Based Violence, a highly talked about issue in the last year. The play is being performed at Norden Farm on Tues 23 June at 7.45pm. Tickets are £10 (£8.50 conc).

Initiated by the former Mayor of Southampton, Cllr Parvin Damani, the play has been commissioned and funded by Hampshire Police and Hampshire County Council in a very rare (possibly unique) collaboration.

The play is a psychological thriller, not a piece of theatre in education, as one might first assume with this kind of commission. It is also not written by an Asian writer for an exclusively Asian audience: the leading characters are an Asian girl and a white man, as Cllr Damani stresses that the issue is one of concern to everybody.

About the play: Aisha waits behind twenty bolts and a stuck down letterbox for the killer she knows will inevitably find her…

Aisha’s family has demanded her death to atone for the “shame” she has supposedly brought upon them. But Aisha does not feel ashamed. And she is determined to be heard before she dies. When the meter reader comes, he finds himself caught up in a nightmare he never could have envisaged when he first walked up the garden path…

About the issue: Honour Based Violence (or HBV) is a reaction to what is perceived as immoral behaviour that brings shame on the family or community. Murders in the name of so-called 'honour’ are murders in which victims are killed for actual or perceived immoral behaviour. They are sometimes called ‘honour killings’. There is, however, no honour in murder.

In the UK most cases of HBV have accrued in Turkish, Kurdish, Afghani, South Asian, African, Middle Eastern, South and Eastern European communities and cultures - however this is by no means an exhaustive list - HBV cuts across all cultures and communities and can affect both men and women, although women are predominantly victims of such crimes. Honour crimes exist everywhere and take many forms. Peeler tackles this subject by looking at a crime, not a particular culture or religion.

There are 17,000 reported incidents of HBV, and/or forced marriages in Britain every year, but the actual number of crimes which occur every year is much higher considering that most of these crimes go undetected and unreported.

About the commission: Parvin Damani was elected as a Labour Councillor on Southampton City Council in 1996 and was Mayor during 2003/2004. She received an MBE in July 2001 for her work in the NHS on community development and race equality.

She says:

"For as long as I can remember Honour Based Violence has been an issue that has continuously and constantly raised its ugly head. It's a pity that it has taken high profile cases and murders to bring these issues into the spotlight and for the government to respond. However we want to dress it up, this is a serious form of Domestic Violence.

My daughter Ish and I have discussed many times how fantastic it would be to have a play specifically looking at Honour Based Violence, but it was a casual conversation in a canteen at Netley Police Training Centre with Mark Ashthorpe started us on this journey. With Mark on board, plus support from Cllr Roy Perry at the Hampshire Interfaith Network, we approached Patrick Sandford at The Nuffield. There were questions as to whether Maggie Nevill - being white - should write the play. For me the question was ' why not?' She is a writer whose work I admire and we need to understand that domestic violence and Honour Based Violence are everyone's issue.

I hope that this poignant play will raise your awareness and show you how insidious Honour Based Violence is."

Parvin Damani MBE

Speaking on behalf of the Police, DCI Mark Ashthorpe (Force Public Protection Unit, Hampshire Constabulary) says:

"Hampshire Constabulary are proud to be associated with this production of Peeler. We have jointly commissioned this play along with Hampshire County Council and Southampton Primary Care Trust to raise awareness of Honour Based Violence as a problem. Honour Based Violence like other forms of personal violence such as Domestic Violence, is a hidden problem and it is important that everyone can start to recognise the risk in order to intervene and protect victims from serious harm and sometimes Murder."

DCI Mark Ashthorpe

Tickets are available from the Box Office on 01628 788997 or online.