Peterborough charities back calls to lower the age domestic abuse victims are legally recognised
This comes after 15-year-old Holly Newton was stalked and stabbed to death by her ex-boyfriend
Charities in Peterborough say young people need to learn about healthy relationships.
It comes as the age at which victims of domestic abuse are recognised as such by law is to be looked at by the Government.
There's an increase in young people following or stalking each other online
Parents of 15-year-old Holly Newton, who was stalked and stabbed to death by her ex-boyfriend, are calling on the government to lower the age.
Logan McPhail was convicted of murder following a trial at Newcastle Crown Court in August.
He has now been sentenced to be detained for life with a minimum term of 17 years.
Mandy Geraghty, chief executive officer at Peterborough Women's Aid, said:
"Lowering this age will mean that we will understand the scale of the problem."
"At the moment, these acts of violence or abuse are not recorded as domestic violence, so we don't know how much of it is going on."
"If we don't know the scale of the problem, we can't tackle the problem."
"We go in to secondary schools and deliver sessions on domestic abuse and healthy relationships."
"What we are noticing is an increase in misogynistic views and an increase in the influences in our society, such as social media."
"That is really having an impact on how young people conduct themselves in a relationship."
"We are also finding that young people don't know the different types of domestic abuse."
"There's an assumption that it's just physical abuse, but it can come in many different forms, for example, tech abuse."
"There's an increase in young people following or stalking each other online."
Abuse can come in many different forms
Holly's mother, Micala Trussler, had described what she called "controlling behaviour" by her daughter's ex-boyfriend, Logan McPhail.
But she said that, because of her daughter's young age, the legal system did not consider that she had been a victim of domestic abuse.
The family were sure that MacPhail, then aged 16, exercised coercive control over Holly, even though they did not live together.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper was asked about calls from Holly's parents to change the law so that under-16s can be considered victims of domestic abuse.
She told BBC Radio 4's Today programme:
"We will particularly, specifically look at this, because we need to make sure that we have got the right ways of recording this kind of violence in teenage relationships,"
Ms Cooper added that this is a "really serious issue."
"I have all sympathy with Holly's family. I can't imagine what they will have gone through. This was a truly awful case,"
"Of course, there is domestic abuse in teenage relationships."
"There is violence within teenage relationships that we have seen increasing, and it really troubles me that we have seen it increasing."