Sadly, domestic abuse is hardly ever out of the news.

The statistics are sobering. Each year more than 120 women are killed by their partner, and more than 30 men are killed by theirs.

Domestic abuse crimes account for 29 per cent of all recorded violence against the person crimes, and nearly a quarter of all crimes recorded nationally.

The Home Office define domestic abuse as: “Any incident of threatening behaviour violence or abuse (physical, sexual, financial, psychological or emotional) between adults aged 18 or over, who are or have been partners or family members, regardless of gender or sexuality”

“Family members” extends to parents, siblings, children, grandparents, step families or in laws.

“You do not need to have lived together to fall into the definition.

Q: My boyfriend has recently assaulted me and the police want to press charges. I am unsure. What should I do, and can they force me to?

A: The decision on whether to charge your boyfriend ultimately rests with the CPS (Crown Prosecution Service), and in order to decide whether to charge your boyfriend, the CPS needs to consider whether there is a realistic prospect of a conviction, and, whether it is in the interests of justice to charge your boyfriend. If he admits the offence and has no previous offences of this nature, they could decide to offer him a police caution. In order to do this, he must make a full and frank admission, so if he is not fully accepting the offence, this route should not be taken.

The stronger the evidence is against your boyfriend, the more likely they are to press charges, but they will take into account your wishes, not least as the stronger your evidence is, the more likely they are to obtain a conviction.

The Police/CPS can decide to proceed without your cooperation, and press charges, particularly if they have independent evidence, such as CCTV footage, medical evidence or a third party witness statement, for example.

If the police/CPS decide to press charges against your wishes, or if you later retract your witness statement, you can be witness summonsed, which means that you will be served with a notice to attend court, which if you fail to do so, could mean you may be arrested and brought to court. If you attend court, but decline to answer questions in court, the court could find you to be in ‘contempt of court’ and you could be fined or remanded in custody but it is more likely that the case would simply be discontinued.

If he is convicted or accepts a caution, this could assist you (if you are financially entitled) to obtain legal aid if you need it for family matters, such as disputes over finances, property, or children. To obtain legal aid for these cases, you need evidence of domestic abuse from the last two years, and this evidence can include convictions or cautions.

Think about the statistics and consider the safety of you and others very carefully.