Bolton Council’s Domestic Abuse Strategic Lead, Shana Begum, has won a national True Honour Award in celebration of her hard work and dedication to taking a stand against “honour” based abuse.
Following a plethora of campaigning activity and support for countless victims, Shana joined Bolton Council as the Domestic Abuse Strategic Lead.
Shana is responsible for creating the Domestic Abuse Strategic Action Plan for the borough, co-creating this with partners and survivors via the Echo Project.
This involves capturing survivor voices, ensuring commissioning services meet the needs of the residents and organising coordinated campaigns to raise awareness.
Her work has seen collaboration with SafeLives, a national domestic abuse charity, where Shana has played a pivotal role in shaping the local response to domestic abuse, embedding the survivor voice into practices.
Shana’s involvement with SafeLives meant that she was one of 50 domestic abuse survivors that shared their story for the ‘I Am’ project, where she met Her Majesty The Queen.
Alongside her day job at Bolton Council, Shana has worked with international organisations and voluntary groups in India and Africa getting involved in training and campaigns on honour-abuse and elder-abuse.
True Honour Awards described Shana as a “leading voice in talking honour-based abuse, combining her lived experience and expertise to create survivor-led strategies, improve cultural competency in domestic abuse responses and drive systemic change both in the UK and internationally.”
Shana said:
"I am absolutely thrilled that I have been awarded the True Honour Award for 2025.
“This recognition by IKWRO is not just a personal achievement; it is a powerful affirmation of the collective efforts we are making to combat honour-based abuse, remembering those we lost and empowering our communities to take action.
"I am so grateful for the opportunity to work as the Domestic Abuse Strategic Lead for Bolton Council, where I collaborate with a dedicated team focused on creating impactful change.”
Bolton Council’s Cabinet Member for Stronger Communities, Cllr Rabiya Jiva, said:
“I am immensely proud of Shana and this national award and recognition is very well deserved.
“We are extremely lucky in Bolton to have Shana’s expertise and dedication in standing up for those affected by domestic abuse, providing support and protection alongside cultural change.
“Shana is not only an asset to the council but to the town and I’d like to personally say congratulations and thank you for helping to make our communities safer.”
The True Honour Awards are hosted each year by the Iranian and Kurdish Women’s Rights Organisation (IKWRO) and take place in London.
Honour-based abuse is a crime or incident that is committed to protect the ‘honour’ of a family or community.
For more information about domestic violence or to find out how to report please visit www.bolton.gov.uk/domesticabuse