Police assure domestic abuse victims they are not alone
Police Scotland are responding to a report of domestic abuse around every eight minutes, new figures have shown.
Nearly 65,000 such calls are attended a year, with the most serious crimes investigated by the domestic abuse taskforce, according to the force.
From April to December 2023, some 46,195 domestic incidents were reported and 26,300 crimes recorded, statistics showed.
The number of crimes recorded is a drop of 5.1 per cent (1,399 crimes) compared to the same period in 2022 and is down 8.7 per cent (2,511 crimes) compared to the five-year mean.
The number of domestic incidents reported between April and December last year increased by 2 per cent (892 incidents) compared to the same period in 2022, police said. Four abusers were given orders of lifelong restriction – meaning they will be continually monitored after release from prison due to the risk they pose to the public – as part of their sentence in the past year.
Since April 1 2023, some 43 offenders have been sentenced to a total of 272 years in prison after being convicted of a total of 364 domestic abuse offences against 139 victims, including physical, sexual, emotional and financial harm. Sentencing included non-harassment orders (NHOs) totalling 1,119 years, including 21 indefinite NHOs for abuse.
Of the crimes recorded, 1,505 were logged under the Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act, a 13.2 per cent increase (175 crimes) on the previous year. Requests to the disclosure scheme for domestic abuse in Scotland (DSDAS) increased by 23.5 per cent overall compared to the same period.
Detective Chief Superintendent Sam Faulds said: “These are significant outcomes for victims, the result of that first step taken to tell someone, an officer or a support worker, of the abuse they have suffered.
“Our domestic abuse taskforce takes on the most complex, challenging and sensitive inquiries often involving multiple victims who have suffered years of abuse, whether physical, sexual, emotional and financial. It is really important people understand that they are not alone, help is available.”