Cardiff has cut its rate of repeat victims from 30% to 13%

Cardiff is held up as an example of best-practice in dealing with domestic violence, against men as well as women.

Over the past three years, a women's safety unit has cut the repeat victim rate from 30% to 13%.

Last month, a pilot scheme began to help heterosexual, gay and bisexual men who are victims of domestic abuse.

The Cardiff Community Safety Partnership is hosting the conference to illustrate its multi-agency approach to tackling domestic violence.

There is also a real risk that children who are regularly exposed to seeing their parents behave violently will accept it as the norm and become abusers or victims Chief constable Barbara Wilding

In addition to cutting the rate of repeat victims, the unit said it had cut the number of occasions when someone made a complaint but later withdrew it from 50% to 14%.

It also claimed to have increased the sharing of information between authorities about child protection concerns.

A series of workshops will be held at the conference to highlight links between domestic violence and health, substance misuse, black and minority ethnic communities and information sharing.

South Wales Police Chief Constable Barbara Wilding said: "The Cardiff Community Safety Partnership is to be applauded for its leading role in developing good practice to combat domestic violence.

'More misery'

"This national conference seeks to share initiatives developed in Cardiff and to identify good practice from other areas.

"It provides an excellent opportunity to identify measures that will reduce domestic violence and also raise awareness of a problem that too many still choose to ignore, an attitude that results in more violence, more misery and, in extreme cases, tragedy.

"There is also a real risk that children who are regularly exposed to seeing their parents behave violently will accept it as the norm and become abusers or victims of the future".

Jan Pickles OBE, of Cardiff Women's Safety Unit said: "The Cardiff Women's Safety Unit has, in its first three years, established itself as the No. 1 domestic violence advocacy project in the UK."

The conference, Domestic Violence - A City's Response, is be held at the Angel Hotel in Castle Street.