One in six men nationally experience domestic abuse – so that could very easily be someone in your cricket or squash team, at your workplace or in your friendship group. However, men are more likely to bottle up what they are going through and not get the support and help they need. Last year only 113 males accessed domestic abuse support in Tameside compared to 1224 females.

We want everyone to be feel comfortable talking about domestic abuse and recognising the signs when either themselves or others need help.

Domestic abuse isn’t just physical violence, it can be controlling and coercive behaviours such as controlling someone’s money or controlling who they see and where they go. There is support available for ALL victims of domestic abuse - men and women and people of all ages and from backgrounds.

For further information see www.tameside.gov.uk/domesticabuse or call Bridges 24 Hour Help on 0800 328 0967. In an emergency - you should always contact 999

The award winning Open Up campaign was developed by the council, working with local partners, in recognition that men can quite commonly be victims of domestic abuse but are less likely to tell someone or seek support.

The campaign, which has been relaunched last week, highlights the support available and has previously successfully involved men in the conversation and increased traffic to the council’s domestic abuse webpages and calls from male victims to Bridges domestic abuse support service.