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3. Commentary
3.1 Incidents of domestic abuse recorded by the police ( Table 1, Table 1a and Chart 1)
- Police forces in Scotland returned details covering 48,801 incidents of domestic abuse 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, when this bulletin was launched.
- Just under half (49 per cent) of the incidents led to the recording of at least one crime or offence. The last four years have seen this proportion remain at roughly 50 per cent, compared to 40-44 per cent in the four years from 1999-00. The highest proportion of crimes to incidents was recorded by Tayside (100 per cent), the lowest by Central (23 per cent).
- 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.
- Crimes, which are generally regarded as more serious than offences, were recorded in respect of 11 per cent (5,233) of all incidents in 2006-07, the same percentage as 2005-06 but up from 6 per cent in 1999-00.
- Where a crime was recorded, it was most likely to be a crime against public justice (typically bail offences and resisting arrest), accounting for just over 4 per cent (2,182) of all incidents, or vandalism, accounting for just under 4 per cent (1,720) of all incidents. This is a reversal of the position in earlier years - until 2004-05 vandalism was more common than crimes against public justice.
- The increase in recorded crimes against public justice is largely attributable to pro-active policing and enforcement of additional bail conditions made in order to provide safeguards over and above the standard bail conditions.
3.2 Incidents of domestic abuse per 100,000 population ( Table 2)
- The incidence of domestic abuse recorded by the police in 2006-07 ranged from 1,074 per 100,000 population in Strathclyde down to 432 in Northern, compared with an overall Scottish incidence of 954 per 100,000 population.
- The range may be partly explained by differences in police recording of domestic abuse incidents not classed as a crime or offence. However, when these are excluded, the range is still substantial. Tayside has the highest incidence (943 per 100,000 population), while Central has the lowest (201 per 100,000 population).
- There was somewhat less variation between police forces in the incidence of cases of domestic abuse which resulted in a referral to the procurator fiscal. These ranged from 386 per 100,000 population in Fife down to 182 per 100,000 population in Central.
3.3 Incidents of domestic abuse by sex of victim and perpetrator ( Table 4, Table 4a and Chart 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.
Chart 2 - Sex of victim and perpetrator where known, Scotland, 1999-00 to 2006-07
3.4 Level of repeat victimisation ( Tables 5, 5a and 6)
- 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 and 34 per cent in 1999-00. This increase could be affected by the length of time different forces have kept databases on domestic abuse, allowing repeat incidents to be identified.
- Where the number of previous incidents was known, 31 per cent of cases involved a single previous incident, 31 per cent of cases involved two or three previous incidents, and 39 per cent involved four or more previous incidents.
3.5 Incidents of domestic abuse by age of victim and perpetrator ( Tables 7, 7a, 8 and 9)
- In 2006-07, the highest rate of incidents of domestic abuse per 100,000 population among female victims was for those aged 22 to 25 years, where the rate was 4,459 incidents per 100,000 population.
- Among male victims, the highest rate of incidents of domestic abuse per 100,000 population was for those aged 36 to 40 years, where the rate was 570 incidents per 100,000 population.
- In 2006-07, the highest rate of incidents of domestic abuse per 100,000 population among female perpetrators was by those aged 22 to 25 years, where the rate was 571 incidents per 100,000 population.
- Among male perpetrators, the highest rate of incidents of domestic abuse per 100,000 population was by those aged 26 to 30 years, where the rate was 4,169 incidents per 100,000 population.
3.6 Incidents of domestic abuse by relationship between victim and perpetrator ( Tables 10, 10a)
- Incidents of domestic abuse recorded by the police involving co-habitees or partners accounted for 42 per cent of 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. This pattern is similar to that shown in previous years, although incidents involving spouses accounted for a higher percentage in previous years. 'Other' includes relationships not fitting into specified categories, and cases where the relationship is unknown.
3.7 Location of incidents of domestic abuse ( Table 11, Table 11a and Chart 3)
- The overwhelming majority of incidents of domestic abuse took place in a 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).
- In all other relationships, excluding those who were a 'spouse' or 'co-habitee', the proportion of incidents taking place in a home was between 85 and 89 per cent of all incidents where location was recorded. In previous years a similar pattern was observed.
- Incidents of domestic abuse generally took place within the victim's home (including the joint home), regardless of the relationship between victim and perpetrator.
Chart 3 - Incidents of domestic abuse recorded by the police: Location of incident by relationship, where known, Scotland, 2006-07
3.8 Crimes and offences of domestic abuse, action taken by police ( Tables 1, 13, 13a and 14)
- Where an incident of domestic abuse resulted in a crime or offence being recorded a report was submitted to the procurator fiscal in 66 per cent of cases, an increase from the 63 per cent recorded in 2005-06.
- In 4 per cent of cases in 2006-7 a police warning was given; 20 per cent of cases involved some other type of action and in 10 per cent of cases no further action was taken. The early years of this series showed no further action taken in 11 to 12 per cent of cases, rising to 16 per cent in 2003-04 before falling to 5 per cent in 2004-05.
- The proportion of crimes and offences of domestic abuse referred to the procurator fiscal varied considerably across police force areas. In Tayside the proportion was 40 per cent, in Grampian 51 per cent, while the proportions were 91 per cent in Central and 99 per cent in Northern. This variation, however, reflects the differences in police practice in recording a crime or offence following an incident of domestic abuse (see Note 5.2.5.). In general, police forces which record a higher proportion of incidents of domestic abuse as a crime or offence tend to refer lower proportions of these cases to the procurator fiscal.
- There was less variation between police forces in the proportion of all incidents of domestic abuse which resulted in referral to the procurator fiscal, ranging from 21 per cent in Central to 48 per cent in Northern.
3.9 Day of occurrence of domestic abuse incidents ( Table 16 and Chart 4)
- The day of occurrence of incidents of domestic abuse shows that more incidents are recorded at the weekend.
Chart 4 - Incidents of domestic abuse recorded by the police: day of week incident occurred, Scotland, 2006-07
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