Three-quarters of all women killed in NSW die at the hands of their loved ones, an official statistic that has led NSW Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione to warn that domestic violence is one of the ''biggest issues modern society has to face''.

A Fairfax Media investigation coinciding with International Women's Day has found domestic violence is responsible for about two in five of all homicides and assaults in NSW, with 24 women dying in the year to September 2013. The assaults buck crime trends, with violence in our homes rising while street violence, robbery and car theft fall.

Ivana Ukropina.

Under-resourced services say they are struggling to cope, with reports of up to half of women seeking a place in refuges being turned away. Yet surveys show attitudes to violence are in some cases going backwards, with people more likely to justify or excuse abusive behaviour today than in the 1990s.

Mr Scipione said NSW police deal with about 370 instances of domestic and family violence a day. Studies show less than half of instances are reported.