A WOMAN whose daughter has been suffering domestic abuse for two years today called on Evening Press readers to help other victims.

Katie's 24-year-old daughter, who lives in York, has suffered broken ribs and burns at the hands of her partner and has been taken to hospital with a full set of teeth marks in her face.

When her neighbours heard her screaming in pain, they decided not to get involved. Instead, said Katie, they complained to City of York Council that they had been disturbed during the night.

But Katie said her daughter desperately needed someone to call the police, who could then catch her abuser "red-handed".

"When you hear a woman screaming or shouting for help, especially in the dead of night, it takes nothing to dial 999," said Katie. "It's somebody's daughter, somebody's sister or granddaughter.

"It's every mum's worst nightmare, knowing there's nothing you can do. It's your instinct to protect your children. It has made her life, and mine, a misery."

Katie said her daughter had complained to the police and had her injuries photographed, but was too scared to press charges.

"If neighbours brought themselves to help it would make a massive difference. If they rang the police her abuser would be caught red-handed, but when they won't it is left to my daughter and if she tries to phone for help he smashes her mobile phone up.

"I can understand people not wanting to get involved, but the police wouldn't disclose who had made the call - no one would ever know.

"It takes nothing just to dial 999 and you could make such a difference."

Joanne Ward, domestic violence co-ordinator for North Yorkshire Police, backed Katie's appeal, reaffirming that callers would remain anonymous.

"Today we live in a society where people turn a blind eye or don't want to get involved for whatever reason," she said. "But I think we need to go back to 30 or 40 years where curtain twitchers were common place, and we need to do a little bit more of that and report more incidents."

Sue Lonsdale, a spokeswoman for York Women's Aid, said there could be many reasons why neighbours did not call the police.

But she said: "It's everybody's responsibility. If you saw a man attacking a woman in the street and she was screaming you would call the police. Why is it because it's behind closed doors that you don't do the same thing?"

If you are suffering domestic abuse, you can phone York Women's Aid on 01904 646630, log on to its website at yorkwomensaid.org or phone North Yorkshire Police on 0845 60 60 247.

Updated: 10:32 Monday, May 02, 2005