NI: Domestic violence claims seven lives in a year

Six women and a man have been killed in Northern Ireland by their partners during the last year, it emerged today.

As a drunk began a jail sentence for slashing and scarring his lover for life, police and support agencies warned far too many victims of domestic violence stay silent.

Even though the British government is finalising a new strategy to halt attacks which account for a third of all the North’s violent crime, case levels are continuing to rise.

Men have also been increasingly subjected to beatings, humiliation and even sexual abuse by wives and girlfriends, counselling services confirmed.

Maxine McCutcheon, Co-ordinator for the Men’s Advisory Project in Belfast, said: “There’s a lot of shame involved. It’s not something that fits with the stereotype of what a man is perceived to be.”

Latest police records show 17% of reported cases involved male victims, compared with 14% in 2003/04.

But in the overwhelming majority of violent relationships, men remain the aggressors.

Ballymena man Paul McClarnon joined a shameful list when he was imprisoned on Wednesday for more than two years because of a shocking assault on his former partner.

The 53-year-old, of Devenagh Way in the town, slashed her with broken glass in a drunken and jealous rage.

Not all victims survive.

Inspector Robin Dempsey, a Community Safety Branch officer specialising in domestic assaults, disclosed the annual death toll has not been higher in the last five years.

He confirmed that six women and a man have died in the last 12 months, three of them inside 10 days during January.

New Police Service of Northern Ireland figures will be published later this month, with Mr Dempsey disclosing the number of offences has surged by more than 1,000 since 2001.

“It’s an absolute tragedy that there have been seven domestic murders or killings,” he said.

“You have to ask yourself could some of those have been avoided.

“But because of the nature of domestic violence there is so much under-reporting. It’s only the tip of the iceberg that police see.”

As well as training officers to be specialist investigators in an attempt to identify and halt abuse as early as possible, police are also involved with groups such as Women’s Aid and a number of British government departments in devising a new initiative.

The urgency is compounded by estimates that one in four women and one in six men will experience this type of violence during their lifetime.

Other startling statistics show police in Northern Ireland attend an average of 46 domestic related incidents daily, despite huge under-reporting.

It is reckoned that at least 11,000 children in the North are living in this climate of abuse and fear, with 700 families forced to re-house every year.

Kevin Shiels, head of the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety’s Domestic Violence unit, said the new strategy to be unveiled by September would focus on prevention, protection and justice, and support for victims.

Media campaigns to raise awareness and convince sufferers that it is unacceptable are planned, as well as offering help in the workplace.

“Sometimes that is the only place they are free from abuse,” Mr Shiels said.

Attempts will also be made to strengthen the law and monitor police response to domestic disturbances.

A freephone helpline number has already been set up to encourage people to confide in others trying to help.

Mr Shiels added: “The whole profile is going to be raised more and more over the next few years because we work together with out counterparts in England, Scotland, Wales and the Irish Republic.

“We will be sharing experiences and policies so we can learn from each other now best to tackle it.”