Rapists and abusers are escaping justice in Britain’s south Asian communities as sexual and domestic violence is going unreported by women and children who are trapped in a pervasive culture of shame, according to a new academic study.

The research project, carried out across several counties in England and Wales, has found that a lack of awareness about what constitutes criminal behaviour is endemic among first generation immigrant families from Pakistan, Bangladesh and India.

“There was certainly no awareness that there could be rape within a marriage,” said Dr Karen Harrison of Hull University who, with co-author Dr Aisha Gill of the University of Roehampton, has carried out a two-year project talking to women, charities, police officers and religious leaders and holding focus groups.

“Rape for women was if their father-in-law or brother-in-law or someone in the extended family was the perpetrator. Nor had the Imams we spoke too ever heard of marital rape; they weren’t aware it was against British law,” said Harrison.

“There was far greater awareness of the laws on female genital mutilation or forced marriage. It was shocking to hear so many women who did not have the support of their families after abuse had taken place.

“In cases of historical abuse, where women had been abused as children, the parents had protected them by taking them away from the situation, but were too worried about the consequences for the family, the shame and the dishonour, to report the abuser.”

Official police data suggest that incidences of sexual violence among south Asian women and children are low, but Harrison said it was clear this was not the case: it is happening, she said, it’s just not being reported.

Last week an appeal court judge ruled that a paedophile was justifiably given a longer sentence because his two victims were from an Asian community, meaning an aggravating factor was that the girls’ families feared they would not find husbands. The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children criticised the move, saying sentencing should be blind to race or colour.

One woman who spoke to the researchers had been a victim of abuse as a child. She said: “There is no unconditional love in Asian families. Honour is more important to them than their own child’s happiness. It’s down to the woman to keep her own dignity. The concept of honour is about honouring the family and the community at the cost of the individual.”

But Dr Harrison said there were small pockets of good practice across England and Wales that were starting to break down the taboos. “Our work has uncovered a number of initiatives operating in these communities that raise awareness of what constitutes sexual violence and encourages women and children to report crimes in a way they feel safe. Some of the charities and progressive mosques are getting the message out there but there is a lot of work to be done in raising awareness for these silent victims.”