Officers at Maitland police ­station have crunched the ­numbers for the area, which includes Cessnock and Kurri Kurri, to highlight the need for action on White Ribbon Day.

Police also execute an ­average of 150 ­apprehended violence orders each month to protect ­victims.

But the problem appears to be much bigger.

“These are the cases that are reported to police,” Central Hunter investigations manager Detective Sergeant Mitch Dubojski said.

“There are still the people that have not been able to reach out and report it.”

Police revealed the ­statistics during a White Ribbon ­function at Lorn on Wednesday night that 75 Rotarians and guests ­attended.

Senior Constable Di Love, a domestic violence officer attached to Maitland, attends court three times a week on average at Maitland, Cessnock and Kurri Kurri.

The mother of four girls and a boy has been in the job eight years.

“I’m very passionate about [reducing] domestic violence,” she said.

“I don’t want any of my girls growing up thinking it is normal.” 

Senior Constable Love said there was a misconception that domestic violence referred to physical harm.

She said many of the cases she dealt with were ones of emotional harm.

“A lot of the women that come into the station say ‘I just wish he’d hit me’,” she said.

Alcohol and drugs also play a big part in violence against women.

In such cases, the magistrate can apply conditions to an AVO that prohibit a man from seeing his partner within a set number of hours after consuming drugs or alcohol.

“I often hear ‘he’s such a nice bloke, but when he drinks that’s when the violence happens’,” she said.

“The hardest thing for a woman to do is to walk into the station, put her hand up, and say ‘I’ve been ­assaulted’.”

Senior Constable Love said she also dealt with a ­significant number of intimidation offences against women in which the man had threatened to kill himself or even the family dog if the woman left.