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3. Commentary
3.1 Incidents of domestic abuse recorded by the police ( Table 1, Table 1a and Chart 1)
- There were 49,655 incidents of domestic abuse recorded in 2007-08, compared to the 48,801 incidents recorded in 2006-07. This equates to just under a 2 per cent increase on 2006-07. This continues the steady increase in incidents reported since 2000-01, the time period covered by this bulletin.
- Half (50 per cent) of the incidents led to the recording of at least one crime or offence. The last five years have seen this proportion remain at roughly 50 per cent, compared to 40-44 per cent in the three years from 2000-01. In 2007-08 the highest proportion of crimes to incidents was recorded by Tayside (100 per cent), the lowest by Central (33 per cent).
- The most common crime or offence recorded in 2007-08 remained the offence of minor assault, 22 per cent (10,994) of all incidents, with breach of the peace, 16 per cent (7,736), the second most common.
- Crimes, which are generally regarded as more serious than offences, were recorded in respect of 11 per cent (5,555) of all incidents in 2007-08, the same percentage as in 2006-07 but up from 7 per cent in 2000-01.
- 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 5 per cent (2,563) of all incidents, or vandalism, accounting for just over 3 per cent (1,686) of all incidents. This is a reversal of the position in earlier years - as up to 2003-04 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 2007-08 ranged from 1,133 per 100,000 population in Central down to 403 in Northern, compared with an overall Scottish incidence of 965 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 of crimes and offences (927 per 100,000 population), while Northern has the lowest (278 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 392 per 100,000 population in Fife down to 262 per 100,000 population in Lothian & Borders.
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 85 per cent of all incidents of domestic abuse where this information was recorded, down by just under 2 percentage points from 2006-07. This percentage has gradually decreased since 2000-01, when it was 91 per cent. This is mainly the result of an increase in the proportion of incidents with a male victim and female perpetrator, which have risen from under 8 per cent of all incidents in 2000-01 to over 12 per cent in 2007-08.
Chart 2 - Sex of victim and perpetrator where known, Scotland, 2000-01 to 2007-08
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, 54 per cent of the cases involved known repeat victimisation compared to 57 per cent in 2006-07 and 45 per cent in 2000-01. This increase since 2000-01 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, 29 per cent of cases involved a single previous incident, 29 per cent of cases involved two or three previous incidents, and 42 per cent involved four or more previous incidents.
3.5 Incidents of domestic abuse by age of victim and perpetrator (Tables 7, 7a, 8, 8a and 9)
- In 2007-08, 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 4,458 incidents per 100,000 population.
- Among male victims, the highest rate of incidents of domestic abuse per 100,000 population was for those aged 31 to 35 years, where the rate was 667 incidents per 100,000 population.
- In 2007-08, the highest rate of incidents of domestic abuse per 100,000 population among female perpetrators was by those aged 26 to 30 years, where the rate was 661 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 4,229 incidents per 100,000 population.
3.6 Incidents of domestic abuse by relationship between victim and perpetrator (Tables 10 and 10a)
- Incidents of domestic abuse recorded by the police involving co-habitees or partners accounted for 44 per cent of all cases, with more cases recorded relating to co-habitees (24 per cent) than to partners (20 per cent); incidents involving spouses accounted for a further 16 per cent. In 38 per cent of cases, the victim and perpetrator were ex-partners or ex-spouses. '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/house was between 86 and 88 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 or 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, 2007-08
3.8 Crimes and offences of domestic abuse, action taken by police (Tables 1, 1a, 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 63 per cent of cases, a decrease from the 65 per cent recorded in 2006-07.
- Where a report was not submitted to the procurator fiscal but the action taken was known, in 3 per cent of cases a police warning was given, 21 per cent of cases involved some other type of action and in 12 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, peaking at 16 per cent in 2003-04 before falling to 5 per cent in 2004-05 (where action taken was recorded).
- In 2007-08 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 31 per cent, in Dumfries & Galloway 48 per cent, while the proportions were 83 per cent in Central and 94 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 27 per cent in Central and Lothian & Borders to 65 per cent in Northern (Table 1).
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 than during the week. Nearly 40 per cent of all incidents of domestic abuse in 2007-08 occurred on a Saturday or a Sunday, with the remaining 60 per cent spread fairly evenly throughout the rest of the week.
Chart 4 - Incidents of domestic abuse recorded by the police: day of week incident occurred, Scotland, 2007-08
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