'Emotional and physical abuse has been a feature of all the slavery victims' lives'

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2013/nov/24/london-slaves-emotional-physical-abuse

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In the days since news broke of the plight of three women rescued from domestic slavery in an unremarkable residential street in London the wild speculation about their ordeal has been replaced by some factual details that have proved even more bizarre.

Yesterday detectives began the task of sifting through 55 bags of evidence containing some 2,500 exhibits collected during a 12-hour search of the home shared by the women and the couple who held them captive for more than 30 years. Police conducted door-to-door enquiries around Peckford Place in Brixton trying to discover who knew what about the strange living arrangements and how such a crime could go undetected despite the gaze of neighbours.

The couple, who have been released on bail, but not allowed to return to the property, were familiar to people living in the area. There was no suggestion that they lived a reclusive existence.

Abdul Rogers, 40, a support worker, who is also on the estate management board and lives in a building opposite the council-owned home, said he was "very surprised" to hear the news. But, he maintained, while residents might recognise one another, they did not necessarily form close bonds.

"I think that is the problem you have when different communities all live in the same community," he said.

"So at the end of the day people don't really speak to each other. You don't talk to each other. Even if I saw my neighbour on the street I probably wouldn't know him.

"I think people really need to look out for each other, but unfortunately that doesn't happen. People don't want to get involved in other people's business."

Tyonna Morris, 18, student, has lived in the area for eight years but was unaware for years that anyone lived in the house until a few months ago when she saw a woman pushing another elderly and possibly Malaysian woman in a wheelchair into it. "You wouldn't ever think anything like that would happen where you live," she said.

One neighbour who once knocked at the door of the property to retrieve a toy his son had dropped off a balcony said two people came to the door and there were others in the background who looked nervous. He thought something suspicious was going on, "but nothing like this", he said.

A woman, who gave her name only as Valerie, said the area was "nice, quiet and calm". "People who live here respect where they live," she said. "There is still a little community. Seeing all this going on is quite surprising to me. It's shocking really."

Commander Steve Rodhouse, from Specialist Crime and Operations, explained the amount of mystery that remains surrounding the case by saying: "What we must do is everything we can to protect the integrity of our investigation and ensure that we do not damage the collection of evidence or the chances of bringing this to a successful criminal prosecution. Equally we need to respect the needs of the victims in this case.

"This investigation will take some considerable time. There are a number of lines of inquiry to follow up, numerous statements to take, and a number of exhibits to examine. We are unpicking a story that spans at least 30 years of these women's lives.

"I have said from the start that our priority was the safety of the women who are the victims at the heart of this. That does not just mean their physical safety but their emotional and mental wellbeing also.

"To gain the trust and confidence of highly traumatised victims takes time, and this must move at their pace, not anyone else's.

"We must take every step to protect the identities of the victims who are understandably emotionally fragile and highly vulnerable. For that reason we will not provide any information that will lead to the identification of the suspects or these women that require our every effort to protect them."

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