A register of offenders could be set up

Victims who complain about violence from their partners could be given anonymity in court, under proposals due to be published in a consultation paper on Wednesday.

Anonymity is currently only given to those who complain they have been sexually assaulted or raped.

More than a quarter of murder victims are women killed by a partner or former partner.

Every murder involving domestic violence may be reviewed to see if the death could have been prevented.

The "crime of passion" defence for men and women who kill their partners may also be changed, to ensure murder in the home is treated as seriously as other types of killings.

We're saying to women, if you are experiencing this please come forward, please give evidence Home Secretary David Blunkett

Ministers are said to believe that too many men who kill women in the home are convicted of the lesser offence of manslaughter rather than murder.

Home Secretary David Blunkett and Solicitor General Harriet Harman will meet victims at a support centre in north London as they present the document.

The suggested changes will be discussed before new legislation is introduced later in the year.

Mr Blunkett said another of their proposals was to keep women and their children in their own homes rather than a refuge, and instead to "move the perpetrator out of the situation".

"We're going to make sure that the children are put first because moving them around like pawns is terribly disruptive to them," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme on Wednesday.

"Above all, we're saying to women, if you are experiencing this please come forward, please give evidence."

Wife-beaters' register

A register of offenders ordered by the courts to stay away from their victims may also be set up.

This would be available for the police and other agencies but not the public.

The measures are designed to give victims greater confidence to come forward about domestic violence.

More safe houses and women's refuges will also be proposed.

Figures show victims only contact the police after an average of 35 incidents have taken place.

But domestic violence accounts for nearly a quarter of all violent crime, according to the 2001/2002 British Crime Survey.