3. Commentary
Incidents of domestic abuse recorded by the police ( Table 1, Table 1a andChart 1)
- There were 53,681 incidents of domestic abuse recorded in 2008-09, compared to the 49,655 incidents recorded in 2007-08. This equates to just over an 8 per cent increase on 2007-08. This continues the steady increase in incidents reported since 2000-01, the time period covered by this bulletin.
- Over half (55 per cent) of the incidents led to the recording of at least one crime or offence. This is higher than in previous years when this proportion remained around 50 per cent in the five years from 2003-04 to 2007-08, and was 40-44 per cent in the three years from 2000-01. In 2008-09 the highest proportion of crimes to incidents was recorded by Tayside (99 per cent), the lowest by Central and Lothian & Borders (35 per cent).
- The most common crime or offence recorded in 2008-09 remained the offence of minor assault, accounting for 23 per cent (12,518) of all incidents, with breach of the peace at 18 per cent (9,650) being the second most common.
- Crimes, which are generally regarded as more serious than offences, were recorded in respect of 12 per cent (6,344) of all incidents in 2008-09, up one percentage point on 2007-08 and up from seven 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 under 6 per cent (3,070) of all incidents, or vandalism, accounting for 4 per cent (1,879) of all incidents. This is a reversal of the position pre 2003-04, where 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.
Incidents of domestic abuse per 100,000 population ( Table 2)
- The incidence of domestic abuse recorded by the police in 2008-09 ranged from 1,238 per 100,000 population in Central down to 403 per 100,000 population in Northern, compared with an overall Scottish incidence of 1,039 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 (1,012 per 100,000 population), while Northern has the lowest (323 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 442 per 100,000 population in Fife down to 242 per 100,000 population in Dumfries & Galloway.
Incidents of domestic abuse by sex of victim and perpetrator ( Table 4,Table 4a andChart 2)
- Incidents with a female victim and male perpetrator represented 84 per cent of all incidents of domestic abuse where this information was recorded, down by just over one percentage point from 2007-08. 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 has risen from 8 per cent of all incidents, where this information was recorded, in 2000-01 to just under 14 per cent in 2008-09.
Chart 2 - Sex of victim and perpetrator where known, Scotland, 2001-01 to 2008-09.
Level of repeat victimisation ( Table 5, Table 5a andTable 6)
- For those incidents where information was available on whether or not the victim had previously been recorded as being a domestic abuse victim, 61 per cent of the cases involved known repeat victimisation compared to 54 per cent in 2007-08 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, 28 per cent of cases involved a single previous incident, 28 per cent of cases involved two or three previous incidents, and 44 per cent involved four or more previous incidents.
Incidents of domestic abuse by age of victim and perpetrator ( Table 7,Table 7a,Table 8,Table 8a andTable 9)
- In 2008-09, 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 4,920 incidents per 100,000 population.
- Among male victims, the highest rate of incidents of domestic abuse per 100,000 population was for those aged 26 to 30 years, where the rate was 753 incidents per 100,000 population. This has changed from 2007-08 where males aged 31 to 35 who were seeing the highest incident rates (667).
- In 2008-09, 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 808 incidents per 100,000 population. This has changed from 2007-08 where the highest rate per 100,000 population of female perpetrators was by those aged 26 to 30 at a rate of 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 31 to 35 years, where the rate was 4,495 incidents per 100,000 population. This has changed from 2007-08 where the highest rate per 100,000 population of male perpetrators was those aged 26-30 at a rate of 4,229 incidents per 100,000 population.
Incidents of domestic abuse by relationship between victim and perpetrator ( Table 10 andTable 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 (23 per cent) than to partners (21 per cent); incidents involving spouses accounted for a further 16 per cent. In 40 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.
Location of incidents of domestic abuse ( Table 11,Table 11a andChart 3)
- The overwhelming majority of incidents of domestic abuse took place in a home/house (89 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' (94 per cent of all incidents where location was recorded).
- In all other relationships, excluding those of a 'spouse' or 'co-habitee', 86 per cent of all incidents took place in a home/house when the location was recorded. This shows that the overwhelming majority of domestic abuse cases still take place 'behind closed doors'. In previous years a similar percentage was observed.
Chart 3 - Incidents of domestic abuse recorded by the police: Location of incident by relationship, where known, Scotland, 2008-09.
Crimes and offences of domestic abuse, action taken by police ( Table 1,Table 1a,Table 13,Table 13a andTable 14)
- Where an incident of domestic abuse resulted in a crime or offence being recorded, a report was submitted to the procurator fiscal in 64 per cent of cases, an increase from 63 per cent in 2007-08.
- Where a report was not submitted to the procurator fiscal but the action taken was known. In such cases 1 per cent were given a police warning, 23 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, that rose to 16 per cent in 2003-04. In 2004-05, it fell to 5 per cent of cases recorded as 'no further action' (where action taken was recorded).
- In 2008-09 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 62 per cent, while the proportions were 78 per cent in Fife 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 26 per cent in Lothian & Borders to 75 per cent in Northern ( table 1).
Day of occurrence of domestic abuse incidents ( Table 16 andChart 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 2008-09 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, 2008-09.
