JNN 21 Dec 2010 : Newly released official figures show an increase in the number of cases of domestic violence including homicide and abuse across Britain during the past financial year.

The figures showed the number of women killed by a violent partner jumped from 72 in 2007-8 to 102 in 2008-9 recording a 42 percent spike, British media reported.

According to figures released by police in November, as many as 42,000 women filed complaint across the UK last year about being abused by a man.

This is while that the number of men complaining of being a victim of domestic abuse by a woman had increased from 7,361 to 7,938 during the same period.

Campaigners have been voicing concern that the government’s austerity measures, mainly cuts to local authority budgets, may result in more deaths from domestic violence as already poorly funded specialist services face the axe.

Currently one in three local authorities provides no refuge or specialist support to victims.

Earlier this month, domestic violence charity Refuge delivered a petition to the Downing Street urging the government to protect specialist domestic violence services.

“Reducing specialist domestic violence services would have serious consequences, leaving women with fewer options and forcing them to stay with or return to their perpetrator, thereby increasing the risk of death,” a spokeswoman said