REPORTS of abuse of elder people are rising, but many cases are still going on behind closed doors, according to Enfield Council.

According to the council’s Safeguarding Adults Board, a multi-agency panel featuring representatives from the police, council, GPs and two local hospitals, said the number of reports of actual and potential abuse has increased from 117 in 2004-05 to 370 in 2008-09.

This type of abuse, which relates to vulnerable people, such as those over 65 and adults with learning disabilities, is often physical and often relates to money, with many cases where older people have lost substantial sums of money by allowing friends, relatives or carers free access to their bank accounts.

According to Keezia Obi, the council’s Head of Safeguarding Adults, said the reason for the increase in cases is due to increased awareness of the issue, though she says overall that abuse of vulnerable adults is still “largely hidden”.

She said: “The main cause of abuse in Enfield is financial, and the majority of abuse is of older people with learning difficulties.

“There is a perception that people from different cultures look after their own. There is a very strong family network in some cultures but abuse still goes on. It absolutely does go on in every community and our statistics demonstrate that.

“We want to raise awareness of the abuse of vulnerable adults and work closely with the local public.”

Ms Obi said that seventy per cent of the referrals she received since 2004 are for people aged over 65, with over half (65 per cent) referring to the abuse of women. In most cases, she said, the perpetrators were family friends and carers. The majority of the referrals received were for white British people.

She also said that 300 out of 370 cases had been investigated, with some cases being taken to court. The most high profile of these was Robinia Care Group which pleaded guilty to three counts of failing its health and safety duty in April after autistic 26-year-old resident Jesse Moores choked to death on a sandwich.

Dr Vijay Rattan, head of Hindu Women’s Group Naree Shakti, which held an event to mark elder abuse day last month in Palmers Green, said she had seen first hand cases of abuse, including an 82-year-old mother being punched on the back of the neck by her daughter and told she wouldn’t get any lunch the next day if she didn’t finish her meal.

In other cases, she said elderly parents had been locked out of the house they were sharing with their children and told to go to the park until the child came home from work.

She said: “Often [among families] there is a lack of communication. Young people speak better English than their grandparents and older people want to keep their identity. If a grandchild is regularly taking his grandparents money, that is another example.

“It is particularly high in our community because people are very proud and there is such a stigma attached to it. But this is not a new thing, it has been going on for centuries but it never came up. Now we are going to try and raise awareness. We ask our elderly people to come forward. We are here to help you. This is not your fault.”

Following a year-long project by the Safeguarding Adults board, which included 530 responses from a public consultation, the council has drawn up a set of ten priorities.

These include making it easier for people to report abuse, providing advice to victims on how to decrease handle abusive situations and increasing the number of prosecutions of abusers.

Naree Shakti will hold a drop-in centre on July 21 on how to protect yourself. The centre’s address at Trinity Bowes Methodist Church, Palmerston Road, Palmers Green. For more information call Mrs Rattan 0208 888 6957. The centre also holds a laughing club for older people on Thursdays 11.30 until 12.30pm with light refreshments for older people.