MALE victims of domestic abuse are being put in the spotlight at an event today in Aberdeen.

Abused Men in Scotland (AMIS), the country's leading charity for abused men, have organised a summit meeting in city to bring together public and voluntary sector policy makers and practitioners. The event is organised in conjunction with the city council.

It comes after AMIS were awarded £420,000 from the Big Lottery fund to increase the capacity of their helpline over the next four years.

Nick Smithers, National Development Officer for AMIS, said: "The funding grant from Big Lottery has shone a light on this issue and we are seeing the growing acknowledgement of the serious extent of this problem with the support from Aberdeen City Council.

"In 2012-13 there were 666 incidents of domestic abuse against men recorded by the police in the Grampian area. This is almost two a day yet we also know that this is likely to be the tip of the iceberg as there are many barriers to men seeking or receiving appropriate support."

Of the households assessed last year by Aberdeen City Council's Homelessness Service as fleeing domestic abuse, 20 per cent were cases where the male was fleeing abuse.

The meeting will be held at Aberdeen Town House from 10.30am until 1pm today.

Councillor Lesley Dunbar, who sits on the Aberdeen Domestic Abuse Partnership, said the latest initiative marked the beginning of a "productive partnership" between AMIS and the council.