During a local radio programme Commissioner Matthews revealed stats stating that domestic violence accounted for around 30 per cent of the cases of violence for August alone. Photo: Internet Source

Commissioner of Police (CoP) Michael B. Matthews. Photo: VINO/File

During a local radio programme on Thursday night, Commissioner Matthews revealed the stats stating that domestic violence accounted for around 30% of the cases of violence for August alone.

Picture not getting better

He said that up to the end of August 2018, there was a total of 81 domestic assaults reported to the police service. "It is equalled the figure of the same period in 2017... So the picture isn't getting any better," he said.

"Of those 81 cases, 61 of the victims were female…. An alarming 108 domestic assault cases were reported to the police for the entire year of which 74 were female. As you can see the total figure for 2018 is on a trajectory to at least equal the figure for 2017 if not exceed it.

The Commissioner also mentioned that cases don’t just affect the partners but their entire family circle with 5% of all reports received by the police stemming from domestic violence.

"It is also worth reflecting when you look on the police database for 2017 that five per cent of all reports logged on our database were domestic related. And bringing it right up to date in August 2018 alone thirty per cent of the assaults reported to the police service involve domestic violence."

Sad reflection

Again a majority of the victims were females. This goes to show that there are male victims out there as well. CoP Matthews said, "It is a sad reflection of what is happening here in the territory."

The RVIPF has adopted a zero policy approach to violence in general and developed strategies to put an effective grip on its prevalence.

He also mentioned a situation where a child was neglected as a result of a domestic violence situation.

“A father left his five-month-old infant in a baby carrier in the middle of an old car parking lot because he had a fight with the mom and he refused to take care of the infant,” he said. “This is the kind of madness that happens,” the commission stressed.