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2. Main points
- There were 48,801 incidents of domestic abuse recorded in 2006-07, a 7 per cent increase compared to the 45,812 incidents recorded in 2005-06. This continues the steady increase in incidents reported since 1999-00, the first year for which data is available. Just under half of the incidents recorded in 2006-07 (23,803) led to the recording of a crime or offence ( Tables 1 and 1a).
- The most common crime or offence recorded in 2006-07 remained the offence of minor assault, 22 per cent (10,578) of all incidents, with breach of the peace, 15 per cent (7,455), the second most common ( Table 1).
- The overall incidence of domestic abuse reported to the police in Scotland in 2006-07 was 954 per 100,000 population, compared to 899 per 100,000 in 2005-06 ( Table 2).
- Incidents with a female victim and male perpetrator represented nearly 87 per cent of all incidents of domestic abuse where this information was recorded, down by less than half of 1 per cent from 2005-06. This percentage has gradually decreased since 1999-00, when it was 92 per cent ( Tables 4 and 4a).
- For those incidents where information was available on whether or not the victim had previously been recorded as being a domestic abuse victim, 57 per cent of the cases involved known repeat victimisation compared to 55 per cent in 2005-06 ( Tables 5 and 5a).
- When looking at the incidence per 100,000 population, females are at most risk of being victims of domestic abuse when aged between 22 and 25 and males when aged between 36 and 40 ( Table 7).
- Incidents of domestic abuse recorded by the police involving co-habitees or partners accounted for 42 per cent of all cases, with more cases recorded relating to co-habitees (24 per cent) than to partners (18 per cent); incidents involving spouses accounted for a further 17 per cent. In 34 per cent of cases, the victim and perpetrator were ex-partners or ex-spouses. Since 1999-00, the proportion of incidents involving spouses, co-habitees and partners has decreased from 68 per cent to 59 per cent, while the proportion involving ex-spouses or ex-partners has increased from 29 per cent to 34 per cent ( Tables 10 and 10a).
- The overwhelming majority of incidents of domestic abuse took place in the home/house (90 per cent of all incidents where the location was recorded). This was more likely if the victim and perpetrator cohabited i.e. were a `spouse' or `co-habitee' (95 per cent of all incidents where location was recorded) ( Table 11).
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