Describing the numbers as “overwhelming”, the attorney general did state that much of the increase was down to “greater civic awareness” about the issue coupled with “greater trust in the responses provided to those submitting complaints.”

Marques Vidal told the Porto located conference that the city had led the way in terms of its incidence of violence followed by Central Lisbon, Lisbon East and then Braga, Lisbon North and Aveiro.

Last year, there were a total of 29 murders of females within domestic contexts against a 12-year average of 36 victims.

Stating that the vast bulk of victims were female, Marques Vidal identified four key facets that needed strengthening and deepening in order to better deal with domestic violence: boosting risk evaluation capacities, the speed of response, the gathering and submission of effective evidence and better inter and intra-institutional cooperation and interaction.

The state attorney general concluded that “we are all responsible” as “domestic violence is a question of citizenship and necessarily involves all of the community.”