Victims report domestic abuse to police in West Yorkshire every 11 minutes on average, research has revealed.

There were 48,438 domestic abuse-related offences and incidents reported to the police in the year ending March 2017.

The number of reports has also risen 7% in a year, up from 45,062 in the year ending March 2016.

This was a rate of 21 incidents or offences being recorded for every 1,000 people in the area compared to the England and Wales rate of 19 per 1,000 people.

Of the total reports in the year to March 2017, 57% were recorded as crimes, 27,827 in total. The number of domestic abuse crimes has risen 30% in a year.

Domestic abuse-related offences made up 12% of all offences recorded by the police in the year ending March 2017.

There were 20,807 domestic abuse-related violent crimes in the year ending 2017, up 28% compared to a year before. Domestic abuse-related violent crimes make up 31% of all violent crimes recorded.

One of the problems faced by police is the victim not wanting further legal action taken against an abusive partner which can lead to issues providing the evidence. The figure was 39% of cases in 2016/17.

Across England and Wales, an estimated 1.9 million adults aged 16 to 59 years experienced domestic abuse in the last year, according to the year ending March 2017 Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW), this included 1.2 million women, and 713,000 men.

The prevalence of domestic abuse has been slowly falling, with lower prevalence for the year ending March 2017 (5.9%) compared with the year ending March 2012 (7.0%), indicating a gradual, longer-term downward trend.

West Yorkshire Police said in a statement: “West Yorkshire Police must effectively safeguard victims of domestic abuse and ensure that police officers and police staff understand risk factors, assess the full circumstances and document the rationale for any decisions they make.

“West Yorkshire Police must also take positive action at all stages of the police response to protect victims and children from repeat incidents while ensuring the criminal justice system holds the offender to account.

“Domestic abuse accounts for approximately 10% of all the incidents reported to West Yorkshire Police. Many victims have suffered for several years before reporting to police and the effects on children are significant.”