DOMESTIC violence support workers in Orkney and Shetland have seen a massive rise in their caseloads, charity Women’s Aid announced yesterday.

Orkney Women’s Aid has seen a 40 per cent increase in its caseload over two years with staff arguing that part of the reason was that more women felt comfortable to report the abuse.

The announcement comes in the wake of the Scottish government revealing an 11 per cent rise in sexual violence across Scotland in the last two years — the highest rate for 44 years.

Support worker Karen MacKelvie said it was “scary how much still remains behind closed doors” and that it “illustrates how important it is not to remain silent.”

Ms MacKelvie said that Women’s Aid saw every type of gender-based violence but that the biggest category was domestic abuse.

Michael Kaufman, co-founder of the White Ribbon Campaign, a group of men working to end violence against women, has been invited to the islands in order to tackle the problem.

Mr Kaufman, who has worked extensively with the United Nations, called on men not to remain silent and allow violence against women and children to continue.

He said: “All around the world women have been courageously standing up to abusive relationships and working to raise public awareness about the violence committed by some men.”

Mr Kaufman added that many men are now “looking at their own attitudes and behaviour” and learning to question sexual harassment at work as well as sexual and physical violence in relationships.

His visit is being funded by the Scottish Violence Reduction Unit.