'Repeat' domestic abuse soars 40%

Published on Tuesday 24 November 2009 21:50

THE number of repeat victims of domestic abuse in Scotland soared by almost 40 per cent last year, amid a general rise in domestic violence, official statistics reveal.

Incidents involving people who had previously suffered assaults in the home rocketed from 21,946 to 33,842 in 2008-9 – a 39 per cent increase on the previous year's figures.

The total number of domestic violence incidents recorded in Scotland increased from 49,655 to 53,681 last year, an 8 per cent rise from the previous 12 months, continuing the steady rise of abuse episodes dealt with by police since 1999, when 35,126 were reported.

More than half – 55 per cent – were classed as either being an offence by police, including 16 homicides and 128 cases of sexual assault, as well as 12,518 minor assaults and 9,650 breaches of the peace.

The figures come days after it was revealed that just one in ten people charged with domestic violence offences was jailed in Scotland last year.

John Lamont, the Conservative spokesman on community safety, warned that the rise in repeat incidents showed that offenders were not being deterred by the consequences.

"We need to send out a much stronger message to those who commit domestic violence, that it simply will not be tolerated," he said. "Based on these figures, there is a long way still to go."

According to the data, published yesterday, the vast majority (84 per cent) of reported episodes involved violence against women by men, but there were 7,336 incidents perpetrated by women on men last year – a rise of 19 per cent since 2007-8.

The statistics also revealed that domestic violence was most likely to occur at the weekend, with nearly 40 per cent of all cases in 2008-9 happening on a Saturday or Sunday.

This led the Liberal Demo-crat justice spokesman Robert Brown to call for a clampdown on alcohol abuse. "There can be no doubt that this is directly linked to alcohol misuse on Friday and Saturday nights," he said.

"The underlying causes of why people drink themselves stupid and then decide to hit their partners must be tackled."

Meanwhile, Labour called for a nationwide roll-out of specialist domestic abuse courts like the one employed in Glasgow.

The party's deputy leader Johann Lamont said: "This increase is of obvious concern but I hope that at least part of the rise can be attributed to an increase in the confidence of victims to come forward.

"The police are doing a better job in supporting victims and Glasgow's domestic abuse court has also played a key role in improving matters.

"Domestic abuse courts should not just be in Glasgow, but across Scotland."

She also raised concerns about the levels of government support being offered to victims, concerns echoed by pressure group Scottish Women's Aid.

Its manager Lily Greenan said she was worried the ending of ring-fencing for council cash could put domestic abuse services under threat.

"It is essential that we see a commitment from national and local government to long-term sustainable funding to make sure that women and children fleeing domestic abuse are able to come forward safe in the knowledge they will be supported," she said.

But these concerns were dismissed by the Scottish Government. Housing and communities minister Alex Neil said: "We've done a lot of work to raise awareness that this behaviour is totally unacceptable and that help is available."