Susan Fahey, chief executive of Women's Legal Service Tasmania, said that violence against anyone was wrong and should be reported, but there was a misconception in society that it was OK for a woman to hit a man.

Ms Fahey said that she knew men who had been hit by women and never hit back, but felt they would be ridiculed if they reported being a victim.

However, she said that anecdotally, more men were reporting domestic violence committed by women, leading to more women being charged.

Yesterday in the Launceston Magistrates Court, a 32-year-old woman, who had a clean record, pleaded guilty to common assault against her former partner, being a slap across the man's face.

In recording no conviction and dismissing the charge, magistrate Simon Brown condemned the woman's actions and said the court was seeing more females accused of assault.

Mr Brown noted that although women were usually unable to inflict the same serious, physical injuries as men, there was a perception in popular culture that it was OK for women to slap men. "The fact is, it's not permissible," he said.

A spokeswoman for MensLine Australia, a men's telephone service for family and relationship issues, said it was not uncommon for men to say they were "embarrassed and ashamed" to report being a victim.

According to the "One in Three" campaign, which advocates for male victims of domestic violence, men comprise "a significant proportion" of victims of family and sexual violence.

White Ribbon Australia, a male-led campaign to end men's violence against women, reports that on average, one Australian woman is killed every week by a current or former partner and a woman is most likely to be killed by her male partner at home.