Scottish police recorded 62,907 incidents of domestic abuse in the 12 months to March 2020, That represents a 4% year-on-year increase in the first year of the Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act being in force.
To coincide with its implementation on 1 April 2019, the government ran a campaign to raise public understanding of domestic abuse and to encourage more victims to report incidents and seek support.
“These statistics are a stark reminder of the unacceptable levels of domestic abuse that occur in Scotland,” said cabinet secretary for justice Keith Brown.
But he also commented: “We welcome any indication that more people are coming forward to access justice and we continue to encourage all those who experience domestic abuse to report it and seek support.”
The most frequent type of incident recorded was common assault, followed by breach of the peace.
Of reported cases, 82% had a male perpetrator and female victim, 15% had a female perpetrator and male victim and 3% involved people of the same gender. The 26 to 30 age group had the highest rate of victims.
There were 206 convictions for crimes under the new legislation, with 246 people proceeded against, giving a conviction rate of 84%.
The majority of those convicted (61%) received a community sentence with 19% given a custodial sentence with an average length of about a year (363 days).
