AN ex support worker says services for male victims of domestic abuse have ' a long way to go'.

Lee Marks worked as the male support coordinator for Worcestershire around two-and-a- half years ago. Mr Marks said: "I was the only person that was supporting men. Since leaving a lot of people have contacted me."

"If you look at Worcestershire, the male domestic abuse service is still one man, he is excellent and I wouldn't say anything bad about him, but if you compare it to the female service the difference in staffing levels is astronomical."

Worcestershire leads the way supporting male victims of domestic abuse

Mr Marks has published a support guide for male victims, looking at behaviours of a female perpetrator, advice on how to stay safe, a look at the legal options and advice around healthy relationships to assist in moving forward. Mr Marks, from Evesham said: "It was the BBC documentary, ‘Abused by my Girlfriend’, on the back of that people contacted me and said, 'this is something we need to get out there."

"The book is aimed at getting men to recognise abuse for what it is, and to get people thinking about the different types of abuse men will suffer, looking at the options legally and the different agencies that can help them come to terms with it."

"It has opened lots of doors in terms of people that it has helped. I was contacted by an organisation in Liverpool. They have been using my book as a reference to where they can send men to work with them. I have met with them in the past week. It has gone to a national level which is just amazing."

Mr Marks said: "We are finding that the use of children when it comes to male victims is quite prevalent. There are cases where men have committed suicide because they couldn't deal with the alienation from their children when coming out of an abusive relationship."

Mr Marks does not profit from book sales; the money goes towards him travelling to give talks and helping spread information about the issue.

Mr Marks' book, Break the Silence is available from Amazon.