Jordan Worth, a College Graduate, has been sentenced to seven and a half years in jail for subjecting her partner to serious and continuing domestic abuse. She is believed to be the first women convicted under the new domestic abuse laws, introduced in 2015. According to the Telegraph, Worth was arrested for scalding, stabbing, and hitting her boyfriend. She had also deprived him of food, banned him from the bed, and discouraged him from contacting family and friends. The paper reports that Worth had controlled his life completely - even instructing him what to wear.

After pleading guilty to offences covered under the 2015 Controlling or Coercive Behaviour in an Intimate or Family Relationship Act, Worth was sentenced to seven and a half years in jail.

Luton Crown Court heard that Jordan Worth came from a loving family. The couple started dating at the age of sixteen after they had met at college. Known as a high-achiever, Worth graduated in Fine Arts at the University of Hertfordshire. According to the Telegraph report, her partner suffered from hydrocephalus, a condition linked to a fluid buildup inside the skull. This made him vulnerable. The court heard that Worth became violent toward him, often striking his head with blunt objects and cutting him. On a number of occasions, she failed to get him to the hospital for treatment.

Neighbours told the Court that they had often heard the man pleading with her to stop.

Paramedics were called and brought the man to the hospital. Worth was arrested a few days later. Judge Madge sentenced her to seven and a half years in jail.

What is the coercive control abuse law?

Domestic Violence is often associated with physical violence against both men and women.

The new act provides protection against psychological abuse, controlling behaviour, and other types of non-physical abuse. Up until its introduction, victims were powerless and may not even have been aware of the abuse.

Domestic violence gender statistics

Despite the common perception that the majority of domestic violence offences are carried out against women, statistics show that, in fact, more than 40 percent of them are perpetrated against men.

According to the Guardian, men's rights group Parity published a report in 2010 highlighting that the number of male domestic violence victims is much higher than previously thought.

The charity believes that male victims are at great risk because the abuse goes unnoticed. Police often ignore it, and men are less likely to seek support. What's more, far fewer services are available for men than for women. A report in the Independent states that reporting of domestic violence against men has increased by 80 percent between 2012 and 2016. Yet, there are no refuges for men in London and only 18 nationwide, so the Independent reports.

Would you intervene? A BBC social experiment

To illustrate the gender-bias when it comes to domestic violence, the BBC carried out a social experiment.

Actors playing a couple took turns to subject each other to abuse in public. It comes as no surprise that passersby were much more inclined to come to the woman's aid than to the man's.

Men's rights groups are stressing the need to fight the stigmatisation of male victims of domestic abuse. If a man seeks support he's often told to man up rather than given the support he needs. Charities working with male and female victims have also emphasized the importance of providing support to someone you suspect may be suffering.