Time to send in views on the Sexual Harm Bill

Holyrood's Justice Committee has issued a call for written evidence on the Scottish Government's Abusive Behaviour and Sexual Harm (Scotland) Bill, as it begins its stage 1 scrutiny of the bill.

The bill would strengthen the law against domestic abuse, harassment and sexual harm in a number of ways, using both the criminal and the civil law. Among other provisions it would make domestic abuse an aggravation in sentencing; create a new offence directed against "revenge porn"; extends court powers to grant non-harassment orders; requires specific jury directions to be given in particular circumstances where the complainer's behaviour may be relevant; and reforms the system of protective civil orders concerning an offender or potential offender.

Committee convener Christine Grahame MSP said:
“Most attention is likely to focus on section 2, which seeks to criminalise the apparently growing problem of 'revenge porn'. But the bill does much more than this."

She added: “Everyone agrees that we need strong, tough laws to deal with abuse and sexual harm. New laws should also be flexible enough to respond to new developments and changed circumstances.

“The law also needs to be consistent, clear and fair, whatever the subject matter. And we should only introduce new laws if we can agree that they will fix a problem that current law is not able to address.

“Our job as the committee scrutinising this bill over the coming weeks will be to take all these factors into account. Contributions from well-informed stakeholders are a crucial part of the scrutiny process and we hope that as many individuals and organisations as possible will respond positively to our call for evidence.”

Click here to view the formal call for evidence. The closing date for submissions is 12 noon on 17 November 2015.