Sussex Police bosses to discuss increased investment for domestic abuse investigations as force is 'struggling to cope'

Mrs Bourne, who has been in the PCC role since its inauguration in 2012, was re-elected in May this year. She received 39 per cent of the total with 122,495 votes.

In an in-depth interview with Sussex World, Mrs Bourne discussed a range of issues affecting residents locally – including domestic abuse.

Following this interview, the Home Office has revealed that extreme misogyny will be treated as a form of extremism under new government plans.

Mrs Bourne said: “We just started to focus on domestic abuse and getting people in those situations to report to the police.

"In 2012, on average, Sussex received two to three reports of serious sexual offences every day. Now it’s five to six – a threefold increase.

"That’s not because there are more offences. People are feeling more confident to report it.

"That has a knock on effect because there are more cases for police to deal with. Public protection officers are struggling to cope so that is an area of concern and a challenge going forward. The chief and I looking at investment in that area.

"These crimes are horrific and we want the victims to feel supported and get a criminal outcome if they want it.

“There’s a lot more work to do on that front.”

Mrs Bourne started a domestic abuse programme with West Sussex County Council when she first came into office – which was unique in the UK at the time.

“We proved it worked and they’re everywhere now,” she said. “We were the pioneers here. We are piloting a stalking perpetrator programme here too. We are trying to change that behaviour.”

It was reported in the national news today (Sunday, August 18) that home secretary Yvette Cooper has ordered a review of the UK's counter-extremism strategy. This aims to determine how best to tackle threats posed by harmful ideologies.

The analysis will look at hatred of women as one of the ideological trends that the government says is gaining traction.