THE TWO LAWS AT A GLANCE
Sexual Offences Act
UNDER the Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2009, rape is defined as intentional or reckless penetration where the victim does not consent.
Consent is legally defined as ‘free agreement’, meaning a person cannot give consent if they are drunk, drugged, asleep or unconscious, or if they only agree because of violence or the threat of violence. Rape and attempted rape account for almost one in five of all sex offences, with 2,176 rapes and 122 attempted rapes recorded by Police Scotland in 2020-21.
Domestic Abuse Act
THE Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2018 made it an offence to pursue a course of behaviour involving sexual abuse towards a partner or ex-partner.
Section 1 defined coercive control as a crime in Scotland for the first time.
Now, sexual acts carried out without a partner’s consent by an accused can form part of a course of behaviour which causes physical or psychological harm – including fear, alarm and distress – to partners in the home or elsewhere, including online.