TOKYO, March 13, 2008 (AFP) - Japanese police said Thursday they received a record number of domestic abuse cases last year, with people in their 30s most likely to be both victims and perpetrators.

It was the highest number of cases reported since 2001, when Japan created a law to prevent domestic abuse from escalating. The law lets courts put restraining orders on abusive partners.

Experts have attributed the rise in cases in part to a growing willingness by victims to come public about domestic abuse.

Police received 20,992 complaints or reports of injuries from domestic violence last year, up 15 percent from 2006, the National Police Agency said.

Only about 10 percent of the cases went through the courts, which last year issued orders aimed at stopping the abuse 2,239 times, the agency said.

Of the total figure, serious crimes such as rape, beatings and murder rose to a record 1,581 cases, up 3.7 percent from the previous year.

An overwhelming 98.6 percent of victims were women, with 37 percent aged in their 30s. About a third of perpetrators were also in their 30s, the agency said.

Nearly three-quarters of the cases involved abuse between spouses.