Domestic Violence drops but figures STILL to high!

But this figure, which was recently released by the PSNI, does not show the full scope of the problem as police believe many more incidents of violence and abuse suffered in the home, go unreported.

In Ballymoney, in the last year alone, police have been called out to 331 incidents of abuse in the home while in Moyle a further 178 cases were recorded - down almost six per cent from 2012-13.

But the problem, police said, does not go away over the festive period - it gets worse.

“We know that incidents of domestic abuse rise over the Christmas period,” said PSNI Assistant Chief Constable Mark Hamilton.

And because of this police have launched a new campaign urging sufferers to seek help, titled ‘Domestic abuse is wrong, pick up the phone and make it stop’.

“The Police Service of Northern Ireland respond to one incident of domestic abuse every 19 minutes, this is a frightening statistic,” ACC Mark Hamilton went on.

“However, we still believe that a large number of domestic incidents are unreported.

“We know that domestic abuse is a frightening crime which can affect anyone, both women and men - very often victims are isolated.

“No one should have to endure abuse and I want to encourage all victims of domestic abuse to come forward and report the matter to the police,” he added.

A 24-hour Domestic and Sexual Violence Helpline is available to anyone concerned about domestic or sexual violence, now or in the past on 0808 802 1414.

The PSNI said they would strongly encourage anyone suffering from domestic abuse to contact their local police on the non-emergency 101 or in an emergency, always call 999.

This month the PSNI launched a new Domestic abuse poster campaign. The campaign, entitled ‘Domestic abuse is wrong, pick up the phone and make it stop’ is designed to encourage the reporting of incidents and make domestic abuse victims aware that they can take steps to stop it.

Speaking about the initiative Assistant Chief Constable Mark Hamilton, Service Improvement Department said: “No one should have to endure abuse and I want to encourage all victims of domestic abuse to come forward and report the matter to the police.”