Councillors urge Newcastle to tackle domestic abuse

Following a recent city council meeting, leaders have vowed to take action to tackle the “appalling” number of domestic abuse incidents in Newcastle.

Newcastle city councillor Jacqui Robinson was applauded for her speech at the meeting, describing how she suffered physical and mental abuse in a relationship more than 20 years ago.

The Northumbria force area has a higher recorded rate of domestic abuse compared to other police forces with data showing that 75% of victims are female. There were 7,759 domestic abuse reports in the city in 2018, a jump of 30% on previous years.

Recent figures from the Office for National Statistics show that there were 26,567 domestic abuse-related crimes recorded by Northumbria Police during 2018-2019, up from 20,419 the previous year.

17% of all recorded crimes in the force area in 2018-19 were domestic abuse-related, compared to an average of 14% across England and Wales. The figures show a rise over the last four years of 160%, with 14,773 offences in 2016-17 and 10,209 offences in 2015-16.

Sources: bbc.co.uk, 25 January 2020, ‘Councillor urges Newcastle to target domestic abuse after suffering’. Chroniclelive.co.uk, 10 January 2020, ‘City leaders vow crackdown on ‘appalling’ rise in domestic abuse incidents in Newcastle’.