REPORTS of coercive control across Hampshire have reached an all-time high, figures have revealed.

Home Office figures show Hampshire Constabulary received 789 reports of controlling and coercive behaviour in the year to March.

This is up from 469 in 2020-21, the first year such crimes were recorded in the data.

Hampshire Constabulary has said that tackling perpetrators of domestic abuse "is a priority", adding that within the last year they have continued to refresh training with frontline officers and staff.

This includes the tools they need to recognise coercive and controlling behaviour and focuses on improving first response and how to best obtain evidence.

Police said coercive and controlling behaviour is "a complex area of crime to investigate".

A spokesperson said: "There are often cases where we have not been able to capture enough evidence to charge someone and this is what we are trying to improve upon, as well as building trust with victims."

They added: "It can also be challenging because some victims blame themselves, or do not see themselves as victims; the control a perpetrator exerts over their victim is subtle and doesn’t always involve violence, which makes it hard to see.

"We know that victims disengage with investigations either because they are ashamed, or they’re concerned about the consequences of reporting their partner.

“Therefore, we know that it takes a huge amount of courage for victims to make reports.

"That’s why we are committed to improving our response, identifying perpetrators and getting justice for more victims."

Police said they also have Domestic Abuse Champions as part of their improvement in protecting and supporting victims.

Domestic Abuse Champions are officers and staff which seek to promote knowledge, skills and passion amongst their colleagues with regards to domestic abuse, identifying good and bad practice to help the Constabulary learn and improve.

Across England and Wales, 41,300 offences of controlling and coercive behaviour were recorded in 2021-22 – up more than a third from 30,800 the year before.

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