Yorkshire Domestic Abuse Calls Every 15 Minutes

3 January 2013, 11:36 | Updated: 30 March 2016, 13:50

New figures show a big increase in domestic abuse calls to police in West Yorkshire, with one coming in every 15 minutes.

Domestic abuse reports have increased over the last three years, with more than 37,300 calls taken by the force in the past year. That’s equivalent to over three thousand calls a month.

More than a third of those are from victims in Leeds.

On average the Police get between 30 and 50 reports of domestic violence every day in Leeds and some of those calls are from the same victims.

Over the last year 1,750 reports of domestic violence in Leeds have come from male victims and police say most of them are from same sex partnerships.

Detective Chief Inspector Mark Griffin, who leads the city's Safeguarding Unit, which investigate incidents of domestic violence across Leeds, said:

"Sadly the Christmas and New Year period remains a time when we see a rise in the number of domestic crime related incidents.

"We appreciate the extremely difficult circumstances victims can find themselves in and we will do everything in our power to stop the abuse and provide a long-term solution.

"It can be very difficult to report an incident of domestic violence but I would urge anyone who believes they are in a vulnerable position to come forward and speak to us at the earliest opportunity.

"The rise in the number of domestic violence cases we deal with each year shows that more people have confidence in reporting incidents to the police."