Incidents of domestic abuse recorded by police in Scotland have increased, but fallen in England and Wales. Meanwhile, the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) is receiving more calls from people concerned about young people being exposed to domestic abuse.
Incidents of domestic abuse recorded by Police Scotland in 2023/24 totalled 63,867, up 3%on the previous year and the first rise since 2020/21. In terms of offences, common assault was a factor in 31% of all recorded cases, followed by crimes against public justice, and threatening and abusive behaviour at 20% each.
In England and Wales police forces recorded 851,062 domestic abuse-related crimes in 2023/24, down 6.6% on the previous year. The fall was partly due to changes in police recording practices, the Office of National Statistics (ONS) said.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) recorded 51,183 domestic abuse-related prosecutions, little changed year-on-year, with 38,776 resulting in convictions and 12,407 in non-convictions.
The NSPCC says it is taking more calls on its Helpline from adults with concerns about children experiencing domestic abuse: the 3,879 contacts in the six months to September represent a rise of 19% on the year-ago period. Calls about emotional domestic abuse went up by half to 1,451, coercive or controlling behaviour by the same amount to 1,279, and domestic abuse occurring after separation or divorce 2½ times to 999.
During the six months to September the charity’s Childline delivered 529 counselling sessions on domestic abuse.
