TENS of thousands of violent domestic abuse incidents have been reported across North Wales in recent years, according to data.
Freedom of Information figures obtained by The Leader shows a total of 31,546 domestic incidents involving physical violence were reported to North Wales Police from the beginning of 2017 to May 25 this year.
Of those, eight were categorised as "homicide," with four taking place in 2021 alone.
12,470 of the overall incidents resulted in injury and 19,064 did not.
The Leader spoke with Sergeant Sofiah Valentine, who oversees Operation Unite - North Wales Police’s response to tackling violence against women and girls - as well as DI Clare Foreman in the strategic Protecting Vulnerable Persons Unit (PVPU) to better understand the data and the work undertaken by the force to protect vulnerable people.
Sgt Valentine, who has been a part of North Wales Police for five-and-a-half years, started off as a response officer in Wrexham before becoming a detective and working in Child Protection.
Describing Operation Unite, she explained: "It encompasses preventative measures, officer training and implementing improvements to the investigatory process.
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"Women and girls should be able to feel safe when out in public, at home, in school or online and this is my aim.
"Some examples of our recent work includes having plain clothes officers in licensed premises to prevent the risk of spiking, making sure that Ask Angela is set up in bars across North Wales and creating a training package for 16-18 year olds on recognising violence against women and girls to call out inappropriate behaviour or recognise unhealthy relationships.
"Any level of domestic abuse is unacceptable, no one should feel afraid in their own home."
Asked about the impact of Covid-19 restrictions on victims of domestic abuse, Sgt Valentine said: "The pandemic presented unique risk to people experiencing domestic abuse, particularly during the lockdowns and some of the usual referral mechanisms were unavailable, for example reports of domestic abuse being reported by schools.
"North Wales Police continued to take positive action in all reported cases of domestic abuse.
"Our response officers continued to attend calls, and conducted welfare checks with persons they met whilst patrolling.
"Our Domestic Abuse Officers continued to maintain contact with survivors to offer safeguarding and support.
"Our child protection officers continued joint visits with social workers to protect children and our partner agencies continued to offer support and refuge.
"We did more outreach work than anything throughout covid.
"With victims stuck at home, we found innovative ways to take information to them, we collaborated with Tesco, who included DA information leaflets in all of their home delivery shops across the whole of North Wales and also did the same with foodbanks, with our policing volunteers assisting greatly.
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"With Chemists becoming ‘one at a time’ establishments, we also sent out the same literature to every chemist across North Wales, so that victims could potentially reach out whilst picking up prescriptions.
"When lockdowns were lifted, people were trying to staycation and also, the influx of hairdresser appointments - we created a poster for hotels, stating that because lockdown was over, didn’t mean that abuse was, in order to target more of that staycation cohort.
"We then provided Domestic Abuse Awareness training online for the hair and beauty industry to equip them with knowledge on how to support and signpost victims, should any disclosures be made to them."
Of the 31,546 total offences reported to police over the five years, 16,683 of those cases saw the victim decline or withdraw their support once the suspect had been identified.
DI Foreman explained: "Leaving an abuse relationship can often feel daunting, particularly if you are being told by the perpetrator that you are at fault for their behaviour, no one will believe you or that they will take custody of your children.
"If there is ongoing financial abuse, a person may not have the means to escape or may fear repercussions such as escalating violence, or stalking.
"It is sometimes the case that a victim will call 999 because they are in immediate danger, but are not necessarily ready to support a prosecution.
"Alternatively, the thought of a court process can create a lot of anxiety and sometimes survivors wish to just move on rather than wait for a court date.
"We support survivors through this with assistance of partner agencies such as Independent Domestic Violence Advocates (IDVA), Witness Care and domestic abuse charities.
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"We can offer assistance through personal alarms or house alarms or contact with a specialist Domestic Abuse Officer.
"Support is available even if the person does not support prosecution.
"If a survivor does decide to make a complaint, we can apply to the courts for special measures, which include things such as putting screens up in the court room or arranging for evidence to be delivered via live link to reduce the fear and anxiety around giving evidence, or seeing the perpetrator in court.
"The Domestic Abuse Act 2021 makes all survivors of domestic abuse eligible to provide a video interview (rather than a written statement) which can be played in court as their main evidence so that they do not have to attend."
Of the total incidents since 2017, 55 involved a suspect who was below the age of criminal responsibility (ten years of age).
Speaking of how the force addresses such incidents, Sgt Valentine said: "In order to intervene in cases where the persons involved are younger than this (10), our officers are trained to recognise adverse childhood experiences (often referred to as ACES) and to engage with children who may have complex needs or neurodiversity.
"PVPU work closely with social services to ensure that the correct support is provided to the family, and will often also engage the child’s school or CAMHS so that there is consistency.
"The Youth Offending Team accept preventative referrals to address problematic behaviour before it can escalate."
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