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Northumbria Police has hit back after critics slammed a domestic abuse campaign as sexist.

Vera Baird, Police and Crime Commissioner for Northumbria, launched the campaign in December promoting changes to the laws surrounding domestic abuse and coercive control.

But posts backing the campaign from the force referred to perpetrators as ‘he’ and victims as ‘she’, leading to backlash.

Initially 60% of Chronicle readers voted to agree that the posters were sexist in a poll, and complaints were made to the Advertising Standards Authority.

But five days on the majority of voters said they agree with the posters.

Northumbria Police said it is dedicated to tackling domestic abuse regardless of gender and the force has dedicated male domestic abuse workers funded by the PCC Vera Baird.

A spokesperson for Northumbria Police, said: “We are pleased that 60% of those who voted in the Chronicle’s poll agree with us that it appropriately targets women victims and male perpetrators, and is not, in doing so, sexist.

“Guidance on the new legislation states that 84% of last year’s victims of this kind of abuse were women and 92.4% of perpetrators are men.

“The government guidance, not that of Northumbria Police, states that: ‘controlling or coercive behaviour is primarily a form of violence against women and girls and is underpinned by a wider gender inequality in society.’

“This does not detract from the work the force does to support male victims and this has been the subject of earlier campaigns. Overall the campaign centres on a poster which does not mention gender and focuses on a non-gender specific agenda.”

However, a leading charity and a former family law solicitor have said more should be done to encourage male victims of domestic abuse to come forward.

Mark Brooks, chairman of Mankind a national charity which helps male victims of domestic abuse, said: “I am disappointed to see that all of the posts refer to a male perpetrator.

“Our figures show that at least one in five people who are victims of domestic abuse in the UK are men, however there is vast under-reporting.

“We need to raise the awareness that men can be victims of domestic abuse and raise awareness of help available so they feel able to come forward.

“I would really like to see Vera Baird’s office commission a campaign poster which raises awareness of male victims of domestic abuse.”

Kath Nixon, a former family law solicitor from North Tyneside spent 20 years dealing with domestic abuse cases.

She said: “I have never seen a refuge for men in all my career, much more needs to be done about it.

“Men deny it in general, and put it with it and they fear they won’t get to see their children if they go to the police. Men are too proud to come forward, there is a stigma there.”