A new campaign in the North is encouraging people to report incidents of domestic abuse.
It is being jointly led by the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) and Policing and Community Safety Partnerships (PCSPs).
The key message of the campaign is ‘If you feel like you’re walking on eggshells that’s domestic abuse’.
It is designed to encourage reporting of incidents and make victims aware that they can take steps to stop it.
The campaign is running from now until the end of July - and will consist of billboard, adshels, as well as radio and online advertising across Northern Ireland.
The PSNI say they respond to an incident of domestic abuse every 19 minutes.
The force says while this is a shocking statistic, there is a belief that a large number of domestic incidents are still going unreported.
PSNI Detective Chief Superintendent George Clarke is pictured along with Anne Connolly, Chair of the Northern Ireland Policing Board at the launch of the campaign | Image: PSNI
Detective Chief Superintendent George Clarke, head of the PSNI’s Public Protection Branch, said: “Between March 2015 and April 2016, there were 28,392 domestic abuse incidents reported to police, which is an increase of 105 incidents compared to the same period last year”.
“We welcome the increase because we believe this shows confidence is increasing in the police. However; we know that incidents are still going unreported”.
“Very often people who are being abused feel isolated, vulnerable and frightened and don’t know where to turn. Through the campaign we are encouraging all victims regardless of age, race, gender or sexuality to come forward and report the matter to the police. Speak out to stop it”, he added.
While Anne Connolly, Chair of the Northern Ireland Policing Board, added: “While it is encouraging that the reporting of domestic abuse incidents has risen since last year, we need to reach out to victims who still feel unable to take the first steps to get out of what must be a terrifying situation”.
