This article sheds light on an aspect of honour-based violence (HBV) that is rarely addressed: male victimisation. HBV is usually regarded as violence inflicted on women by men. Police cases of male victimisation of HBV and scarce literature on this subject illustrate the ways in which men can become victims of violence. Men can be victimised in the same way that women are, for example when they commit adultery, are openly homosexual, or through conflicts about the choice of a partner. A specific and contested form of male victimisation occurs when their families pressure them to commit violence in order to restore family honour. Men are less likely than women to claim victim status and their victimisation of HBV is therefore possibly underreported. The authors do not argue to neglect female victims, but to expand hegemonic images of HBV and gender roles to include male victimisation. More insight into these matters is necessary to ensure the right support for each victim of HBV and to enable men and women to resolve these conflicts together.

There are not only biological differences between men and women; there are also differences in social roles for men and women. In the 1970s the term ‘gender’ was introduced in order to make a distinction between the biological sex and the social roles ascribed to the sexes. But what does that term gender actually mean and what does it add to our understanding of social life in general and especially within the field of law enforcement? In the first part of the article a brief historical overview of the introduction of and debate on the gender concept is presented. The second part zooms in on the actual use of gender in (criminological) research on law enforcement.

How can police officers make use of citizens’ religious beliefs when dealing with cases of honour-based violence (HBV)? In this article religion is addressed regarding motive and legitimisation of violence and as a social network of people and institutions for communities of believers. We focus on Islamic religion, because most cases of HBV handled by the police take place within Islamic communities and because the Dutch public debate on religion revolves around Islam. We interviewed police officers with expertise on HBV. These officers have an instrumental vision on religion. It helps them to gain insight in motives for violence and it offers opportunities for conflict mediation and coping with the aftermath of HBV.

In contrast to the societal debate, the topic of religion and crime is only scarcely present in contemporary criminological research. A special issue on this theme hence seemed very relevant. Even though the editors launched an open call, the submitted proposals were almost always related to Islam. In this introduction we therefore reflect on questions and themes that, in our opinion, should be included in this special issue on religion and crime. First, we give a short overview of Belgian, Dutch and American research on the missing theme of sexual abuse in the church. Second, we discuss the complex concept of ‘religion’. Third, we assess the complex relationship between religion and crime and reflect on the question of whether and when religion leads to more or, on the contrary, less crime. We end this introduction with a brief overview of the selected contributions for this special issue.

Honour based violence has attracted a great deal of attention in recent years in the Dutch public debate. However, given that honour can be damaged and restored in many ways, defining this kind of violence is rather difficult. The term honour based violence is an umbrella concept. This article explains how, within this concept, the relationship between religion and violence in the name of honour is understood.