New referrals to a domestic abuse charity doubled last month compared to June last year.

Victim Support Isle of Man received 37 new referrals following the easing of Covid-19 lockdown restrictions when it received 16 in June last year.

Manager Paula Gelling (pictured) said the charity has been ’very busy’ since lockdown ended.

’Normally we have about 16 new referrals a month, but we had 37 this month. There was a drop in April this year with 10 new referrals and in May we had 15 referrals,’ she said.

A number of the 37 referrals were related to harassment rather than domestic violence. The surge in referrals has been put down to the relaxation of lockdown and a number of fights with people drinking, said Paula, who is an independent domestic violence advisor, older person violence advisor and an independent sexual violence advisor.

She added that victims may still be keeping quiet as they continue to be in controlling relationships and would like to remain cautious when talking to someone about how their house was during lockdown.

’We’re encouraging people to come forward and speak to us. We want them to know that we’re here to support them,’ she said.

’What we want to do is make sure people are safe and children are safe. It’s not about telling people what to do, it’s about supporting them.’

Police saw an increase of about 21% in domestic violence-related incidents between 2019 and 2020.

The estimated figure of incidents for the lockdown period were 224 with 185 being recorded in the same period last year.

A spokesman said: ’The police continue to support victims of domestic abuse and investigate when at all possible. We continue to work with partner agencies and the third sector in providing the best support and means of reporting domestic abuse.’

Victim Support, which celebrated its 21st anniversary in May this year, works in conjunction with the police and Refuge, which provide shelter for those needing somewhere safe to live.

Victim Support Isle of Man has been involved in the drafting of the Sexual Offences and Obscene Publications Bill 2019.

Visit www.victimsupport.im/ for more information or phone 679950.