Women's Aid contacted ITV following the "stream" of social media posts they were tagged in, highlighting behaviour by some of the male contestants on reality-TV show, Love Island.

The domestic abuse charity say they have held discussions with the show's producers about the alleged "misogyny and controlling behaviour" exhibited by some contestants in recent episodes.

Teresa Parker, head of communications and media relations at Women's Aid, told Metro.co.uk:

"At Women’s Aid we are being tagged into a stream of Twitter posts, with viewers of Love Island highlighting the misogyny and controlling behaviour being shown on screen."

"This is clearly more than talking about any individual contestants, and a programme based around the formation of romantic relationships must have guidelines on what behaviour is acceptable and unacceptable in those relationships."

"We are talking to ITV, and they have shared with us information on their inclusion training, but what appears to be missing is specific information on abusive relationships and an understanding of controlling behaviour in relationships."

Responding to Women's Aid's comments, an ITV spokesperson said:

"We cannot stress highly enough how seriously we treat the emotional well-being of all of our Islanders."

"Welfare is always our greatest concern, and we have dedicated welfare producers and psychological support on hand at all times, who monitor and regularly speak to all of the Islanders in private and off camera.

"Ahead of this series, contributors on the show were offered video training and guidance covering inclusive language around disability, sexuality, race and ethnicity, behaviours and microaggressions.

"We are always looking at how we expand and evolve on this training to ensure that all of our Islanders feel they are part of a safe and inclusive environment."

The dating show has attracted negative attention in the past, specifically surrounding its duty of care to contestants, but ITV state that they have extensive protocols in place to ensure that welfare measures provide support to programme participants before, during and after filming.

Ahead of this series, contributors on the show were offered video training and guidance covering inclusive language around disability, sexuality, race and ethnicity, behaviours and microaggressions. A welfare team is also solely dedicated to the Islanders both during the show and after.

Despite this, however, Women's Aid believe that there is room for improvement, with Parker stating that it is important that Love Island producers are able to recognise when to "intervene and challenge unacceptable behaviour".

"ITV can play an important role here, by dealing with something that is clearly an ongoing issue for the show, and at Women's Aid we want to help where we can."

The domestic abuse charity recently launched a new campaign called 'Come Together to End Domestic Abuse' which focuses on the that role everyone has to play in ending abuse. You can learn more here.

If you have been affected by issues raised in this story, please visit: www.rte.ie/helplines.