Domestic violence peaks Christmas Eve

There were nine domestic disturbance calls to the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary Christmas Eve �?nbsp;a busy night, but one that's come to be expected.

'It just happens to be a stressful time of the year.'�?Bev Doyle

Police say Christmas Eve is one of the most dangerous nights of the year for domestic violence. Seven of the nine calls were from the Northeast Avalon.

"That's fairly significant in a short period of time and as we know, the calls received by police are a very minimal number of actually what's actually occurring out there," said Shawn O'Reilly of the RNC.

"The police were never contacted in a lot of cases, I should say, so it would make the number even higher."
 
The RNC said in all the cases Christmas Eve, the aggressors were men.

Women seek shelter after holidays

Bev Doyle of Iris Kirby house, a shelter for women escaping violence, agreed violence against women during the holidays is not uncommon.

"It just happens to be a stressful time of the year," said Doyle.

"There's more alcohol around, the bills start coming in. You know, just the general stress around Christmas itself."

Doyle said the shelter will be busiest just after Christmas because most women keep their families together during the holidays and leave after