Police in London have carried out dawn raids across the capital as they pursue a week-long crackdown on domestic violence that has led to 320 arrests.
Scotland Yard said officers engaged in Operation Athena were targeting violence within the home as well as hate crime. Ten per cent of all calls made annually to the Metropolitan police are related to domestic violence.
Assistant commissioner Simon Byrne, in charge of territorial policing said: "The scale of the violence and abuse caused by those in domestic relationships is shocking. About one-third of all women will suffer some form of physical or sexual abuse at the hands of their partners. Suffering behind closed doors should not and cannot be ignored. We all have a responsibility to put a stop to domestic violence."
Within the first 36 hours of the operation, which began on Monday and runs until Friday, police had made 230 arrests. By Wednesday afternoon that figure had risen to 320, with offences ranging from harassment to rape and threats to kill.
The campaign is being led by specially trained officers and is being accompanied by outreach work, victim-focused workshops and multi-agency drop-in centres, the Met said in a statement.
"We are committed to tackling all of forms of violence, and will make sure we play our part in supporting and protecting victims of both sexes. It is also importantly about demonstrating to abusers that their actions have legal, and in some cases, long-lasting consequences," said Byrne, who claims the drive will send a message to both offenders and victims that police will take reports of domestic violence seriously.