NEWS
Huge increase in domestic violence cases reported in Victoria, report
(The Guardian, 19 March 2015)
Victorian police recorded more than 68,000 family violence incidents in 2014, an increase of 8.2% from the previous year, the first quarterly report from the state government’s Crime Statistics Agency found.
Overall, family violence cases had increased by 70.2% since 2010, with the police minister, Wade Noonan, describing it as “the biggest law and order challenge facing Victoria” as he launched the report on Thursday.
“We welcome the fact that more people are coming forward and reporting family violence to police, however this is revealing the true scale of the family violence emergency that our community faces,” he said.
A third of the 9,806 sexual assault and related offences, almost half of the 37,639 assault and related offences and more than half of the 10,573 stalking, harassment and threatening behaviour offences were family violence related, the report found.