Nearly a third of all arrests made by Gloucestershire Police last month were for suspected domestic abuse related offences.
In January 244 people were arrested on suspicion of domestic abuse related offences, and 85 per cent of detainees were men.
The youngest person arrested was 17, with the oldest being 77. The highest proportion of detainees (33 per cent) were aged between 35 and 44.
Every week throughout December Gloucestershire Police released details of the domestic abuse related arrests their officers had made across the county in a bid to show the prevalence of the problem.
The same amount of people were arrested in December (244), the highest arrest figure since July last year.
Last month, more than half of those arrested were on suspicion of some form of physical assault against a partner, former partner or family member.
Of those 124 arrests, 51 were on suspicion of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, four for assault occasioning grievous bodily harm, 68 for common assault and one wounding.
Among those taken into custody were a man who is alleged to have hit his partner in the face with his shoe, a man who strangled his partner and used controlling behaviour for three years, and another who had thrown his partner around, punched and kicked her, and threatened to harm her dog.
There were 17 people who were arrested on suspicion of breaching bail conditions, court orders, injunctions or other orders.
Four men were arrested on suspicion of rape, with another arrested on suspicion of attempted rape.
There were 19 men arrested in relation to allegations of stalking with fear of violence, which is any type of fixated, obsessed, unwanted and repeated behaviour.
Among those was an ex-partner who sent threatening messages, one who turned up unannounced banging on his ex-partner’s door, and another who called the victim multiple times and repeatedly turned up at her address against her wishes.
A further 29 people were arrested on suspicion of harassment.
In total, 208 men were arrested in January, which is six men on average arrested every day on suspicion of domestic abuse related offences.
Of the 36 women who were detained over the month, 29 were on suspicion of a form of assault.
This includes a woman who is alleged to have pushed and punched her partner in front of their child, another who sent threatening messages to burn their home down and another woman who hit her partner and threw a can at his face, causing injury. One woman threatened her mum with a knife, one was arrested for breaching bail conditions and two were arrested for harassment.
Officers arrested 797 people last month, which means 31 per cent of those were on suspicion of domestic abuse related offences.
Domestic abuse describes a range of behaviours including physical or sexual abuse, violent or threatening behaviour, controlling or coercive behaviour as well as digital, economic, psychological and emotional abuse.
Chief Superintendent Kerry Paterson, force lead for tackling Violence Against Women and Girls said: “We decided to publicise our domestic abuse arrest data in December to shine a light on a crime which often happens behind closed doors.
“The majority of the feedback we had from the public was one of shock and anger, as well as a request for us to release this type of data throughout the year, and so we have decided to continue with this.
“Sadly, the arrest figure for December with 244 arrests wasn’t out of the ordinary for us, as we arrested the same amount of people last month.
“We hope that releasing some detail around what has been reported to us may encourage other victims and survivors who are suffering in silence to seek help, as we know that on average victims experience 50 incidents of abuse before reporting it or getting support.
“Our aim is to also show perpetrators that we are focused on targeting them – we won’t let their abuse continue, as we will come for them and arrest them.”
Professional support is available for anyone who has an abusive partner, former partner or relative – contact Gloucestershire Domestic Abuse Support Service on 01452 726 570 or email: support@gdass.org.uk. More information is available on their website: https://www.gdass.org.uk/
The Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme gives any member of the public the right to ask the police if their partner may pose a risk to them. It is often called ‘Clare’s Law’ after the landmark case that led to it.
This scheme also allows a member of the public to make an enquiry into the partner of a close friend or family member. For more information on this visit: https://www.gloucestershire.police.uk/advice/advice-and-information/daa/domestic-abuse/alpha2/request-information-under-clares-law/
To report a domestic abuse related incident call police on the non-emergency number 101. In an emergency, or if the incident is ongoing, always call 999.
If you are in a position where you need help but cannot physically speak as there is a risk to your safety, you can still get through to the police.
Dial 999 and if you cannot speak to the operator, type 55 on your keypad. Your silent call will be transferred to police and the call handler will be informed that you need help.
