DEFINITION, RECORDING AND INCIDENCE

DEFINITION AND RECORDING

3.1 A police definition of domestic violence needs to serve at least five functions. The first is at the operational level, where officers attending incidents need to be able to:

i) Identify the situations in which prescribed procedures or guidance should be followed, whether a crime has been committed or not.

3.2 A slight problem can arise here in that police officers are most used to learning and applying legal definitions of crimes and offences. The creation of a definition of domestic violence could create the wrong impression that Scots Law recognises a distinct crime of that type, or that evidence of a crime having been committed is necessary for police action to be taken. However, if these misconceptions were to be ruled out in both written policy and training this slight problem should be overcome, as it has been for force definitions of 'racial incidents'.

3.3 It is equally important that the creation of a definition for the purpose of police practice, and the formation of policies and procedures to tackle domestic violence, do not completely isolate the treatment of this form of abuse from related issues such as child protection and non-domestic crimes of violence committed against women.

3.4 Police officers and their managers also need a definition so that they can create searchable records of individual incidents which will help to:

ii) Identify repeat victimisation;

iii) Review cases to decide on any further action and monitor performance.

3.5 At strategic level (command unit, force management and national liaison) a definition is needed to:

i) Create collated records to size the problem: over time; comparatively within forces; and between force areas, in order to inform strategy and monitor collective performance against targets/policy;

ii) Encourage victims to identify themselves as such and clarify discussion with other interested parties (even if the definition is not shared with them).

3.6 The tables in the next section on 'Police Statistics', following paragraph 3.17, show the variety of definitions used by Scottish forces. That variety negates any current comparison of incidence between forces. More importantly, difficulties arise within forces when a police definition does not serve all of these five functions.

3.7 For instance, the definition used by Force A acknowledges the need for police action even when physical violence has not occurred, but its collated records do not distinguish between crimes of violence and other types of domestic incident and therefore the total incidence of domestic assault cannot be known at strategic level. Both Forces A and C, by virtue of their wider ranging definitions, will include violence between siblings and between adults and their parents in their collated statistics, in fact Force C's definition means that child abuse will also appear in the total.

3.8 Violent abuse in a domestic relationship which does not take place between partners or ex-partners is of course just as worthy of police attention. However, the unique nature of violence between partners/ex-partners (because of economic and emotional ties, the low incidence of reporting, and the high incidence of repeat victimisation) requires specific policy and procedure and therefore should be recorded separately.

3.9 Force B has no formal definition and therefore its monitoring of collective performance may fail to identify any lapses in application of policy. Force G does have a definition but limits it to physical abuse, thus allowing for the possibility of officers ignoring force instructions or guidance in cases which do not amount to assault. Nor will the Force be able to review individual patterns of repeat behaviour in cases where the commission of crime has not been established.

3.10 There is clearly a need for each force to adopt a definition and recording mechanism which serve the five functions mentioned earlier. There is also an over-riding national need for forces to agree a standard definition so that constructive comparisons can be made and national consideration, within and outwith the service, can be better informed. The need for a national definition has already been recognised by The Scottish Criminal Statistics Committee. It is hoped that its forthcoming work, which will be informed by this Report, will result in a standard definition acceptable to the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland.

3.11 HMIC recognises the good practice adopted by those forces where sub-categories have been created for recording purposes to distinguish between domestic incidents where a crime has been committed and those where it cannot be established that this is the case. Some forces have proved that it is also useful to record and count the numbers of: non-assault crimes committed; arrests; detentions; reports to the procurator fiscal; injuries; and whether children in the family were present or not. This kind of information assists consideration of both individual cases and measurement of total need in that:

• patterns of behaviour can be monitored and repeat victimisation identified
• consideration of further investigation can take previous incidents into account
• future protection of the victim and any children can be considered by police and other interested agencies
• police performance can be monitored at individual and organisational levels
• strategy can be adjusted accordingly at local and force level

3.12 Information technology capable of producing this type of data is not necessarily expensive since it is not absolutely vital to use networked terminals if designated staff have a daily responsibility (as in Forces D and H) to feed information into a 'stand alone' domestic violence system, from other systems if necessary, at the same time that individual incidents are being reviewed.

Recommendation 1

That the standard definition of domestic violence to be developed by The Scottish Office in consultation with forces includes sub-categories of: crimes of personal violence (non-sexual and sexual); other crimes (such as breach of the peace, threats, and vandalism); and abuse which does not amount to crime; and that the definition be adopted by all forces as soon as it is agreed.

3.13 HMIC believes that forces will work best with a definition which is agreed by all and therefore does not wish to prescribe. However, the following outline is offered as a suggestion for discussion:

For police recording purposes domestic violence is any form of physical, sexual or emotional abuse which takes place within the context of a close relationship between adults. In most cases the relationship will be between partners who are married, co-habiting or separated. Records will be maintained to differentiate between non-sexual crimes of violence, sexual offences, other crimes (such as breach of the peace, threats and vandalism), and abuse which does not amount to crime. Each record will also show the extent of repeat victimisation, and will be updated to show arrest/detention, report for summons/warrant, and any other outcome.

Recommendation 2

That all forces record domestic incidents so that they can be reviewed individually and in total, using the sub-categories referred to in recommendation 1.

INCIDENCE

Police Statistics

3.14 Differing definitions not only make comparisons between force areas impossible, they also preclude any assessment of the total volume of police-recorded domestic violence across Scotland. The tables which follow have been compiled from the widely varying categories of statistics made available by forces. Wherever possible, reference is made to incidence per 1,000 resident population in the force concerned.

3.15 At present, the chief value of the police figures is in showing trends within individual force areas. Even so it will be seen that most forces have only recently begun to record domestic violence separately.

3.16 In Forces D and F, which probably maintain the most comprehensive collated records, the increasing proportion of incidents involving violence should not be taken to mean that actual violence has increased. As has been noted by independent research in Force F, it is more likely that police diligence in recording has improved (especially since the total domestic incidents have not varied greatly from year to year), indeed the trend there can be traced to specific action within the force to address that issue. The same interpretation can be made of Force D trends.

3.17 Total domestic incidents in Force F, which has the longest statistical history, have remained remarkably constant. This may simply reflect a persisting reluctance of victims to report incidents (not limited to Force F) since we know that domestic violence is a particularly under-reported crime (see non-police statistics later). Indeed Force F may later be in a position to measure a change over the current year as a result of recent improvements in its service to victims and its efforts to publicise these.

Figure 3.1

Force A

Definition: Instances of violence or intimidation committed within relationships of marriage or co-habitation between adult couples, whether it occurs within the home or not, including such instances where they occur within other significant relationships, such as assaults upon other adult relatives in a domestic situation.

Incidence

* records were not collated across entire Force until July 1995

Figure 3.2

Force B

Definition: None

Incidence

Figure 3.3

Force C

Definition: Any quarrel, disturbance or incident involving a person in a domestic setting which results in that person being subjected to violence, or any behaviour directed at that person which intimidated or places that person in a state of fear and alarm. The components of domestic violence include any singular or varied acts of physical, sexual or mental alarm.

Figure 3.4

Force D

Definition: None

Incidence

Figure 3.5

Force E

Definition: None

Incidence: Records not collated

Figure 3.6

Force F

Definition: Any form of physical, sexual or emotional abuse which takes place within the context of a close relationship. In most cases this relationship will be between partners (married, co-habiting or otherwise) or ex-partners.

Incidence

Figure 3.7

Force G

Definition: Any form of physical abuse which takes place within the confines of a close relationship, i.e. between partners who are married, co-habiting or separated.

Incidence

Figure 3.8

Force H

Definition: Any form of physical, sexual or emotional abuse which takes place within the context of a close relationship. In most cases the relationship will be between partners (married, co-habiting or otherwise) or ex-partners

Incidence

3.1 8 Figure 3.9 shows some of the more comparable figures alongside each other but also serves to show how little commonality there is in recording. Only five of the forces collate statistics of a type which can be compared with one or more of the other forces. Where no figures appear in the table the relevant statistic could not be obtained, or the variance in definition precluded inclusion.

Figure 3.9 - Police recorded Domestic Violence, 1996

*Figures refer to violent incidents only **Figures refer to assaults only.

3.1 9 Looking at the average figures from the limited police statistics which are loosely comparable we can hazard the following approximations for Scotland as a whole. Around 33.000 domestic incidents were reported to police in I 996 (this equates to less than two and a half incidents per officer per year). Between I 7 and 37% of these involved a violent attack on an individual. However, it has to be stressed that these rough estimates are based on figures from three forces which cover less than half the resident population, one of which operated without a fixed definition of domestic violence.

3.20 What is certain (from statistics published by The Scottish Office) is that the national category of 'Group I' , crimes, i.e. non-sexual crimes of violence (which includes but does not identify domestic assault), was the only category of police-recorded crime to show increases between 1994 and 1995 and again between 1995 and 1996.

Other Statistics

3.2 I The I996 Scottish Crime Survey asked, for the first time in a survey of this type. questions about domestic violence. Of a representative sample of 1,943 Scottish residents aged between I6 and 59 who had had a partner during the previous year, 5% stated that their partner had used force towards them during that period. A slightly higher proportion of women (6%) than men (4%) admitted this.

3.22 Of that total 5% who had experienced force being used against them:

· 20% said that this had happened at least once a week

· 49% said they had sustained injury more than once

· 75% (89% of men, 68% of women) said that the police had not been informed about any incident

· no-one stated that the police had been informed about every incident

· 64% said that the perpetrator was living with the victim at the time force was used

· women were more likely to have been assaulted in a direct manner by bodily contact while men were more likely to have had something thrown at them or to have been attacked with a weapon of some sort

3.23 These findings tend to confirm the belief that a higher proportion of domestic violence than other crimes, for many reasons, is not reported to the police. However, when compared with the previous studies in the U.K. and North America referred to above, these results may suggest that the rate of reporting in Scotland is either higher or has increased in recent year's.

3.24 The same survey found that, of a representative sample of 2,05I Scottish residents aged between 16 and 59, I 0% said that they had been threatened by a partner at least once and I 2% said that they had had some kind of force used against them by a partner. Despite this, only 8% of them considered themselves to have ever been a victim of 'domestic violence'. It seems that the general public, as well as public authorities and academic researchers, are confused about the definition.

3.25 Since these questions were not asked in a previous Scottish Crime Survey, the results do not allow historical comparison. Police statistics, which have only recently been collated at force level and do not use a standard definition, cannot be used to show trends in domestic violence since up-turns may more truly reflect better recording practice. It may even be argued that any recent increases in police figures of actual violence could partially be attributed to increasing confidence in the police amongst victims as a result of better practice and publicity. What we can deduce from the best available force data (provided by Forces D and F), is that demon for police services from victims of actual violence has increased in recent years.

3.26 Statistics published by the one agency solely concerned with the plight of abused women and their children, Scottish Women's Aid, reveal that it has noted a dramatic increase in requests for assistance. During I994/95 Women's Aid groups in Scotland received 35,08I requests for help, an increase of 9,149 or 35% on the previous year's figure. At no time in the history of Women's Aid in Scotland has there been a larger rise demand for services from one year to the next. In the following year (to 31.3.96) the figure rose even higher, to 41,629. As with police statistics, these figures may reflect increasing knowledge and confidence amongst victims in relation to the service provided. Whatever the case, the upward trend in both Women's Aid and police figures support the indications from the Scottish Crime Survey that the incidence of domestic violence is far greater than official records can show.