DOMESTIC abuse is a serious problem in Jersey, employers were warned this week.

They had gathered for the launch of Jersey’s Domestic Violence Forum’s annual campaign, which this year aims to highlight the effects of domestic violence on the workplace and encourage local businesses to implement a domestic violence policy.

Opening the evening at Voisins, which was the first of a series of workshops organised as part of the ‘Open Door Corporate Campaign’, Forum chairman Mike Cutland agreed with comments made recently by Assistant Magistrate Bridget Shaw that ‘domestic violence is possibly the most serious criminal issue facing the Island’.

‘We know that one in four women and one in six men will experience some kind of domestic abuse in their lifetime,’ he said. ‘Three quarters of women who do experience this abuse are harassed in their place of work. We also know that this abuse can affect anyone, from the person you manage to the person who manages you.’

• For more information on the Open Door Corporate Campaign, visit www.jerseywomensrefuge.org.