THE number of disabled people reporting domestic abuse has increased by a quarter in London over the last four years, according to police data published today.

Reports made to the Metropolitan Police jumped from 2,720 in 2016 to 3,401 in 2019, a rise of 25 per cent.

The figures also showed that reports from members of ethnic minorities rose by 10 per cent to 31,417 cases last year, up from 28,529 in 2016.

Police put this down to improvements in identification and reporting of domestic abuse, plus victims’ greater willingness to come forward.

However, charities stressed that much more needs to be done to encourage people from minority communities to report abuse.

Robi Bibi, deputy manager at a refuge for South Asian women run by charity Hestia, said: “Getting to the stage of reporting is a difficult process as there are a lot of survivors who have endured years and years of rape, emotional manipulation or cultural forms of abuse on top of the domestic abuse.”  

She added that these women are often taught that domestic abuse “should be dealt with by the family,” but on most occasions “they’re pushed under the rug.”

Disabled people also face huge difficulties in reporting abuse as the perpetrators are often their carers, Ms Bibi said.

She explained that abusive partners can prevent their victims going to the police by depriving them of food and their means of mobility.

A 2017 study by the Safelives charity found that some professionals have dismissed abusive actions by misidentifying controlling behaviour as caring.

Sometimes, research showed, the actions of police officers give women a reason to avoid coming forward.

BBC research revealed that when migrant women reported crimes, 60 per cent of police forces inform the Home Office about the victim’s insecure immigration status.

The Step Up Migrant Women campaign is calling for new measures to protect migrant women from arrest and enable them to access domestic abuse services despite their status.

Earlier this week, 44 MPs signed a letter urging the government to scrap the bedroom tax for domestic abuse survivors.

The move follows a case in which a woman had her housing benefit cut because she had a spare room, leaving her at risk of eviction and again falling victim to her abusive ex-partner.

The MPs said vulnerable women “must not be forced out” of safe houses by the policy.