A report by its Policing and Reducing Crime Unit says grading police response according to the level of attack suffered by women can also reduce attacks.

The report is based on a project carried out in the Killingbeck area of Leeds, West Yorkshire.

In 1997 two women a week were killed by a current or former partner in England and Wales.

Many women do not report assaults until they have been attacked many times.

The Killingbeck project ran for one year from 1996 and involved a system of grading domestic violence incidents according to their seriousness in an effort to reduce repeat victimisation.

A spokesman for West Yorkshire police said: "Women tend to be assaulted between 10 and 20 times before they contact the police.

"We were trying to break that cycle."

Mobile phones

The system of response in the project ranged from warning letters being sent to alleged abusers to victims being issued with pagers and mobile phones.

The response was graded according to the seriousness of the reported abuse.

The Home Office report, Arresting Evidence: Domestic Violence and Repeat Victimisation, says the project showed that repeat police visits to offenders were reduced by matching response to the level of attack, that more women reported incidents and that there were fewer assaults if action was taken early on.

It recommends that other forces develop local strategies for tackling domestic violence which:

• Include an effective system for identifying repeat attacks against victims and ensuring the correct police action is taken. This could include using data from GPs, women's refuges and other sources to supplement police records
• Introduce a graded response system
• Improve police training and awareness of domestic violence

Launching the report, Home Office minister Paul Boateng said: "The government is committed to ending domestic violence and our position is clear: domestic violence is criminal and will not be tolerated."

He added that the Killingbeck experience showed the importance of adopting "a strategic approach to domestic violence".

In January, the government launched an awareness campaign offering practical advice for victims of abuse.

'Push ahead with prosecutions'

A Police Federation conference was told on Tuesday that abusers should not be let off the hook because their victims decided not to go ahead with prosecutions.

Sussex Assistant Chief Constable Maria Wallis said evidence such as photos of the victims and statements could be used to take a case to court, even if the victim did not wish to co-operate.