Lives could be saved by more sensitive treatment of Asian women suffering domestic violence, says a report out today.

Women's campaigners in Bradford are calling for a concerted effort by the authorities to make it easier for Asian women victims to report abuse and get help.

High-profile cases - such as those of Tasleem Begum, murdered after a dispute over an arranged marriage, and Shaheeda Bi, strangled while eight months pregnant by her husband, and convicted killer Zoora Shah, who says she suffered years of abuse - are the tip of the iceberg, campaigners claim.

The report states a shortage of trained interpreters working for social services and the police and inadequate staff training means abused women from Bradford's Asian community are denied the help they need.

On occasion, male relatives or community leaders were brought in to interpret, preventing women victims from speaking freely.

Domestic violence is a taboo subject within the Asian community and male-dominated Asian organisations such as the Racial Equality Council have been slow to take it up, the report's authors claim.

The report follows a conference last year, the first of its kind in Bradford, called Asian Women Experiencing Violence - The Way Forward. The event, at the Carlisle Business Centre in Manningham, attracted 200 people who expressed concerns and made suggestions.

Other concerns highlighted related to harassment of Asian women workers who risk anger and violence from their own community, and the pressure on specialist police officers. One officer working with Asian women in Bradford has a caseload of 750 women, the report says.

Shamshad Hussain, of Keighley Domestic Violence Forum, one of the conference organisers, said: "We are asking for a strategic response to these problems.''

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