VICTIMS of domestic violence should not suffer in silence, the police can and will take action - that is the message from the borough's community safety leaders this week.

This promise follows shock statistics that one quarter of all reported assaults in Richmond upon Thames are caused by violence in the home.

A pledge to increase support for victims with a determination that domestic violence should not remain hidden and unreported has been made by the borough's community safety partnership.

The local domestic violence forum chose International Women's Day on Monday to launch its strategy, aimed at helping victims and targeting offenders with the message that the police can and will take action against them.

It is all part of a drive to reduce the number of domestic violence incidents and show it is a serious crime. One of the key aims is to encourage awareness and reporting of domestic violence and to ensure that victims know there is help and support available.

The strategy has been approved and adopted by the Richmond community safety partnership which comprises Richmond upon Thames Council, the Metropolitan Police and various other agencies and will provide a focus for the work of the domestic violence forum over the next year.

Richmond council's chief executive and chairman of the community safety partnership, Gillian Norton, said: "Domestic violence accounts for one in four of the total reported assaults in Richmond upon Thames, a figure that while shocking may still not reflect the true levels of this crime in the borough.

"The actual figure could be even higher as many incidents may go unreported. We understand how devastating and distressing it is if a partner subjects you to physical and psychological abuse, and how hard it can be to tell the police. But we would still urge victims to come forward.

"The partnership is fully behind the work of the domestic violence forum and all the partners are determined to make sure that domestic violence does not remain hidden and that victims are given all the help and support possible."

Chairwoman of domestic violence forum, Barbara Westmorland said: "Richmond is seen to be an affluent borough and people tend to associate domestic violence with council estates, but there are a number of people suffering in Richmond, from very affluent areas. In theory it is about control and you never know what is going on behind closed doors.

"There was a death caused by domestic violence in the borough six weeks ago, which shows we need to have our ideas about domestic violence written down with information on how people can deal with it."

If you need help with this issue, you can call Richmond police's domestic violence unit on 8247 7204 and the national domestic violence helpline number is 0808 2000 247.