A total of 94% of the 30,139 domestic abuse charges reported to the Crown and Procurator Fiscal Service in Scotland in 2022-23 were pursued through the courts.
The cases included seven murders or culpable homicides, 491 of attempted murder or serious assault, and 639 rapes or attempted rapes. In 86% of the cases, the perpetrator was male.
The most commonly reported offence was threatening and abusive behaviour at 27%, followed by common assault at 24%. Coercive control accounted for 5.8%, and bail breaches and other crimes against public justice made up 23%, the Press Association news agency reported.
Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain commented: “We know that crimes perpetrated behind closed doors are every bit as serious as those which may be witnessed by many. Perpetrators must be brought to justice.”
Of the cases which did not proceed to court, 4% were categorised as no action, mainly due to insufficient evidence, while 2% were dealt with by direct measures, an alternative to prosecution.
Overall, the total of reported domestic abuse cases fell by 8.0% compared with the previous year.
