West Yorkshire Police and partners are raising awareness around same sex domestic violence this Summer.
Over the last 12 months there have been 400 reported incidents of same sex domestic violence in West Yorkshire; this is on average more than one victim per day.
Despite this the reporting of domestic violence remains low; and there is a real concern that same sex domestic violence is reported even less.
During the last year in West Yorkshire there were three same sex domestic murders. This is one more than the number of women who were murdered by their male partners or ex partners.
In these cases, despite indications that there was a history of domestic violence, none were reported to police.
This is why the police have teamed up with Broken Rainbow UK - the national Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender Domestic Violence charity, Yorkshire Mesmac - the sexual health project, the Gay Police Association and Stonewall - the diversity champion to raise awareness.
The campaign called “Same Sex Domestic Violence, We Wont Turn Our Back” uses images of a man and a woman with injuries, bruises, cuts and foot prints on their backs.
The reasons for under reporting may include a fear of not being believed and that it will be dismissed by the police. It also appears that victims, particularly men won’t admit that they are being abused as they are embarrassed.
The campaign aims to highlight what help is out there for victims and offenders as well as trying to bring down some of the barriers some victims may see.
For help and advice please contact Broken Rainbow UK on 0300 999 5428 (LGBT) or West Yorkshire Police on 0845 60 60 606.
In an emergency or if there is an incident ongoing contact the police on 999.