Police in West Yorkshire get one call every 15 minutes from victims of domestic violence, the YEP can reveal.
And the number of reports of domestic abuse has increased over the last three years.
Experts also fear this is just the tip of the iceberg because crimes of this nature often go unreported.
More than 37,300 reports of domestic violence have been recorded by the force in the past year – more than a third of victims are from Leeds.
Detective Chief Inspector Mark Griffin, who leads the city’s Safeguarding Unit, which investigate incidents of domestic violence, said: “Sadly the Christmas and New Year period remains a time when we see a rise in the number of domestic crime related incidents.
“In Leeds and across West Yorkshire we have dedicated teams of officers who specialise in investigating this type of crime.
“We appreciate the extremely difficult circumstances victims can find themselves in and we will do everything in our power to stop the abuse and provide a long-term solution.”
Police receive on average between 30 and 50 reports of domestic violence every day in Leeds and some of those calls are from the same victims.
At least one in four women across the country will suffer from domestic abuse and one in six men will become victims, according to figures from the British Crime Survey.
More than 11,350 reports of domestic violence were reported to West Yorkshire Police in Leeds between April 2009 and March 2010.
But they received a total of 13,970 reports between April 2011 and March 2012.
Over the last year 1,750 reports of domestic violence in Leeds have come from male victims and police say that the majority of those are from same sex partnerships.
A West Yorkshire Police spokesman told the YEP that they received more than one report of domestic abuse every 15 minutes.
DCI Griffin added: “It can be very difficult to report an incident of domestic violence but I would urge anyone who believes they are in a vulnerable position to come forward and speak to us at the earliest opportunity.
“The rise in the number of cases we deal with shows more people have confidence in reporting incidents to the police.
“We take a zero tolerance approach to domestic violence.”
FACTFILE
24hr National Domestic Violence helpline: 0808 2000 247
National helpline for men wanting to change: 0808 8024040
Leeds Domestic Violence Services: 0113 246 0401
Broken Rainbow: 08452 60 44 60 or www.broken-rainbow.org.uk
Mankind: 01823 334244 or www.mankind.org.uk.





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