Key Facts
- World Health Organisations Multi-Country study into women's health and domestic violence against women found that between 1 in 2 and 1 in 10 women will experience some form of violence at some point in their lives.
- One in 4 women will experience domestic abuse from a partner in her lifetime.
- There were 49,655 incidents of domestic abuse in Scotland recorded in 2007/08 (an increase of just under 2% on the previous year).
- 54% of cases reported to the police in 2007/08 involved repeat victimisation.
- Women were the victims in 85% of the reported incidents of domestic abuse in Scotland in 2007/08.
- 92% of rapists are known to the woman they rape.
- 7 out of 10 women giving evidence in rape trials in Scotland will be asked about their sexual history or character.
- 1,053 rapes or attempted rapes were recorded in 2007/08 in Scotland.
- There were 1,666 incidents of indecent assault in the same period.
- In 53% of homicide cases in Scotland over the last ten years, where a woman aged 16-69 was the victim, the main accused was the woman in question's partner.
- Female homicide victims are most commonly killed in a dwelling with the motive being rage/fight with a partner.
- Teenage mothers seem to be particularly likely to experience domestic abuse. An American study found that 70% of teenage mothers at one hospital were in a relationship with a violent partner.
- It is difficult to quantify the scale of the problem of Female Genital Mutilation in Scotland. A study in 2007 for England and Wales estimated that nearly 66,000 women aged between 15 and 49 living in the UK had undergone FGM and over 20,000 girls were at risk.
- Although we recognise that the known cases of forced marriage i.e. brought to the attention of the Forced Marriages Unit will be much smaller than the actual number of incidents, 40 cases from Scotland were notified to FMU during the period January to October 2008.
- Between 78% and 86% of stalking victims are female, with between 18% and 31% experiencing sexual violence within the context of stalking behaviour.
- Scottish Women Against Pornography feel that adult entertainment ruins women's lives and that research showed that a conservative estimate of 60% of women interviewed who were involved in the sex industry were victims of sexual abuse. They feel that the pornography industry, prostitution/lap dancing/stripping does not ultimately exist because of women's choices. Rather exists because men as a class, demand there be a sub-class of women and children and transgender people but mostly women, who are available for their unconditional sexual service.
- The adult entertainment industry in Scotland (4 cities) is worth roughly between £11.8m and £22.2 in terms of gross expenditure.
For further details on where the key facts have been sourced from see Safer Lives: Changed Lives; A Shared Approach to Tackling Violence Against Women in Scotland.
Advice and Help
For advice and help, call the Scottish Domestic Abuse Helpline FREE on 0800 027 1234 or visit our Domestic Abuse website.