Pubs focus of anti abuse drive

Up to 1,000 posters and 10,000 beer mats will be distributed

A campaign to reach out to women suffering domestic abuse in the run-up to Christmas is being launched.

Posters will go up in the ladies' toilets of every pub in Carmarthenshire and 10,000 beer mats are set to be placed on pub tables across the county.

The "poster and coaster" publicity is aimed at reaching younger women whom campaigners fear are more likely to suffer in silence when they are assaulted or abused by their partner.

Dyfed-Powys Police is backing the campaign on the issue which is estimated to be an element in a quarter of the cases dealt with by the force.

Carmarthenshire Domestic Abuse Forum coordinator Samantha Jones said more than 1,300 cases of domestic abuse were reported in the county last year - 31 of them repeat cases.

She said women aged 18 to 35 were the target of the 2003 campaign because they often were the least confident in standing up to their abusers.

Domestic abuse has always been a hidden crime - it is still seen in society as an "acceptable" crime Samantha Jones

"It is probably due to the fact that there is still a stigma about domestic abuse - people don't want to come back to their friends and family and say they have failed.

"If often takes some women years and years of pain to come forward and do something about it.

"This is to show that that there is a support mechanism out there."

In addition to putting up posters in 240 pubs, the campaign will also see the posters going up in libraries and doctors' surgeries.

New measures

Ms Jones said the latest Home Office figures had shown an increase in domestic abuse, with the number of women being killed by their partner each week now averaging 2.2.

"Domestic abuse has always been a hidden crime. It is still seen in society as an "acceptable" crime," she said.

Domestic violence accounts for a quarter of all murders in Britain.

In the Queen's Speech on Thursday, the biggest overhaul of laws on domestic violence since the 1970s was promised.

Under the plans, police will get new powers to deal with offenders.

And the civil laws on intimidation will be extended to cover same sex partners, unmarried couples and those who have never lived together.

The Carmarthenshire campaign is launched at the Great Western in Ammanford at 1100 BST on Monday 1 December.