A charity supporting victims of domestic and sexual abuse saw the number of calls to its helpline increase by 50% during December.
The Domestic and Sexual Abuse (DSA) helpline, hosted by Nexus on behalf of three Northern Ireland government departments, also dealt with over 31,000 calls from people seeking help or advice about domestic violence or sexual abuse in the last 12 months.
There was also a 28% increase in webchats and emails between December 1 and 20 December last and the same period the previous year. It also experienced further increases in the week between Christmas Day and New Year’s Day.
