Domestic abuse figures rose ahead of new Act
Incidents of domestic abuse recorded by Police Scotland rose by 2% in 2018-19, the year before the new extended offence came into force, official figures published today have revealed.
Police recorded 60,641 incidents of domestic abuse in 2018-19, in line with what the Scottish Government described as a "relatively stable" picture since 2011-12, with around 58,000 to 61,000 incidents a year.
In 2018-19, 41% of incidents included the recording of at least one crime or offence, most frequently common assault (36% of all offences), followed by breach of the peace and similar offences (29%).
Dundee City (157), West Dunbartonshire (148) and Glasgow City (147) recorded the highest incident rates per 10,000 population, and the Shetland Islands (52) and East Renfrewshire (54) the lowest rates on the same basis.
Where gender information was recorded, around four out of every five incidents had a female victim and a male accused, a stable pattern since 2011-12.
Saturdays and Sundays together accounted for 35% of incidents, and 88% of all domestic abuse incidents occurred in a home or dwelling.
The Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2018, which came into force on 1 April 2019, extended the offence to cover forms of behaviour including psychological abuse and coercive and controlling behaviour.
Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf commented: "While these figures are for the year before our domestic abuse laws came into force, the passage of that legislation in 2018 alongside Police Scotland’s ‘Every 9 minutes’ campaign, helped raise awareness of this insidious crime and its many facets and encouraged people to report their experiences.
"Domestic abuse is neither acceptable nor inevitable. We must work collectively – as parents, friends, co-workers and legislators – to bring an end to this blight on society, address underlying attitudes that enable it to persist, call out those who dismiss or minimise its impact, and ensure that perpetrators are dealt with robustly and effectively."