GOVERNMENT action to help stamp out domestic violence has been welcomed by a Teesside MP.

Redcar MP Vera Baird said she hoped the changes in the domestic violence provisions in the Queen's speech would help victims.

She said the tough action was long overdue to help people feel safe in their own homes.

Ms Baird said: "Ninety per cent of the victims are women and most of the perpetrators are men.

"Often these men do not see anything wrong with making their partner a prisoner to their will.

"They are left over from a time when men thought they owned women."

She said that children from violent homes did less well at school, were more likely to get into trouble with the police, less likely to obtain and keep jobs and had poorer health.

Ms Baird said: "Violent men should remember that inflicting domestic violence is a double crime. They are likely to start receiving double punishment under the provisions of these proposals.

"Personally, I look forward to the day when there are no women's refuges because it will be the perpetrator and not the victim who is made to leave the home."