More than 475 women victims of domestic abuse sought the assistance of Aġenzija Appoġġ in the first half of last year, the agency said yesterday, marking International  Women’s Day.

According to the agency, which is part of the Foundation for Social Welfare Services, 478 women between January and June last year faced some form of abuse and received help from its domestic violence services.

“Aġenzija Appoġġ would like to show solidarity towards women victims of domestic violence and emphasise the importance of zero tolerance to violence against women and female adolescents,” the agency said yesterday.

While offering assistance to victims of domestic abuse, the agency’s domestic violence unit also works closely with children and young people to challenge stereotypes related to gender. It also helps children who have witnessed domestic violence.

Official data published in February showed that last year the police received 1,272 domestic violence reports – up from just 116 reports 10 years ago.

The data showed that last year the majority of victims who filed reports to the police had suffered psychological harm (577 cases) and slight bodily harm through physical force (579 cases). In 2015, there were 1,205 cases reported, up from 1,046 in 2014.

There were 37 cases of stalking reported and 33 cases of slight bodily harm through the use of “irregular weapons”. Another 31 reports were filed by victims of serious bodily harm caused by physical force.

The remainder of the cases were related to serious injuries caused by weapons, the data showed.