Surge in women prosecuted for violence

The number of women convicted as a proportion of the total amount for both sexes also rose from five per cent to seven per cent over the same period.

More than 55,000 men were prosecuted in 2010, compared with over 28,700 five years earlier.

Mankind chairman Mark Brooks told BBC Radio 5 Live Breakfast, who obtained the data, there was not enough support for male victims.

“The help for male victims is very sparse. There are a number of national and local helplines. There are some councils and police forces that do a great job in encouraging and supporting men when they come forward but it’s far too few. “And services, generally speaking, are around three decades behind the services available to female victims and really in this day and age that is not acceptable.”

One victim of domestic violence, who wanted to remain anonymous, told the programme how he was abused by his ex-wife who is now serving a four-and-a-half year prison sentence.

“The night she stabbed me she was at some friends and I was in the flat cooking something to eat. She came back and demanded her food. We then got into an argument where she threatened to punch me.

“I pushed her away, she went into the kitchen and grabbed a steak knife and plunged it into my chest. I could see the blood coming through the t-shirt.”

A CPS spokesman said the service did support male victims of violence in the home.

“There is no bias or lack of concern on the part of CPS when dealing with cases involving male victims.”