Caroline Flack's arrest over a domestic incident has helped to expose a hidden story, says Cara McGoogan

When Love Island presenter Caroline Flack was arrested last week following a domestic incident with her boyfriend, Lewis Burton, people were shocked to hear that it was she who had reportedly hit him. The slight 40-year-old has been charged with assaulting Burton, a 6ft 4in tennis player.

Following the incident, Andrew Brady, her ex-fiance, shared on Instagram a photograph of their non-disclosure agreement, with the caption: “#AbuseHasNoGender”.

Flack resigned from Love Island on Tuesday morning “in order not to detract attention from the upcoming series” – a new “winter” edition filmed in South Africa that is scheduled to start in the new year. In a statement on Instagram, she said “matters were not as reported” and that she is cooperating with the authorities. Burton, who is supporting her, said on Instagram, “I'm tired of the lies and abuse aimed at my girlfriend.”

Wherever the truth may lie, the fracas has drawn attention to the hidden story of domestic abuse against men, which affects thousands every year. According to the most recent crime survey for England and Wales, one in three survivors of domestic abuse in the UK are male, with some 695,000 men experiencing it in 2018 (gendered figures for 2019 aren’t yet available).