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3. Commentary
3.1. Incidents of domestic abuse recorded by the police
- The police returned details covering 45,796 incidents of domestic abuse in 2005-06, a 5 per cent increase compared to the 43,631 incidents recorded in 2004-05. This continues the steady increase in incidents reported since 1999-00, when this bulletin was launched (tables 1 and 1a).
- Just over half (52 per cent) of the incidents led to the recording of at least one crime or offence. The last three years have seen this proportion remain at roughly 50 per cent, compared to 40-45 per cent in the four years from 1999-00 (tables 1 and 1a, and chart 1). The highest proportion of crimes to incidents was recorded by Tayside (99 per cent), the lowest by Central (23 per cent) (table 1).
- The most common crime or offence recorded in 2005-06 remained the offence of minor assault, 22 per cent (10,135) of all incidents, with breach of the peace, 18 per cent (8,224), the second most common (table 1).
- Crimes, which are generally regarded as more serious than offences, were recorded in respect of 11 per cent (5,008) of all incidents in 2005-06, the same proportion as in 2004-05 but up from 6% in 1999-00 (tables 1 and 1a).
- Where a crime was recorded, it was most likely to be a crime against public justice (typically bail offences and resisting arrest), accounting for 5 per cent (2,104) of all incidents, or vandalism, accounting for just under 4 per cent (1,632) of all incidents. This is a reversal of the position inearlier years - until 2004-05 vandalism was more common than crimes against public justice (tables 1 and 1a).
3.2. Incidents of domestic abuse per 100,000 population
- The incidence of domestic abuse reported to the police ranged from 992 per 100,000 population in Strathclyde down to 552 in Northern, compared with an overall Scottish incidence of 899 per 100,000 population (table 2).
- The range may be partly explained by differences in police recording of domestic abuse incidents not classed as a crime or offence. However, when these are excluded the range is still substantial. Tayside has the highest incidence (965 per 100,000 population), while Central has the lowest (160 per 100,000 population).
- There was somewhat less variation between forces in the incidence of cases of domestic abuse which resulted in a referral to the procurator fiscal. These ranged from 369 per 100,000 population in Strathclyde down to 148 per 100,000 population in Central.
3.3. Incidents of domestic abuse by gender of victim and perpetrator
- Incidents with a female victim and male perpetrator represented 87 per cent of all incidents of domestic abuse where this information was recorded, down from 88 per cent in 2004-05. This percentage has gradually decreased since 1999-00, when it was 92 per cent (tables 4 and 4a, chart 2).
Chart 2 - Gender of victim and perpetrator where known, 1999-00 to 2005-06
3.4. Level of repeat victimisation
- For those incidents where information was available on whether or not the victim had previously been reported as being a domestic abuse victim, 55 per cent of the cases involved known repeat victimisation compared to 52 per cent in 2004-05 and 34 per cent in 1999-00 (tables 5 and 5a). This increase is likely to be affected by the length of time different forces have kept databases on domestic abuse, allowing repeat incidents to be identified.
- Where the number of previous incidents was known, 34 per cent of cases involved a single previous incident, 30 per cent of cases involved two or three previous incidents, and 37 per cent involved four or more previous incidents (table 6).
3.5. Incidents of domestic abuse by age of victim and perpetrator
- The most frequent age group for victims is 41-50 for both females and males, although all age groups between 22 and 50 have a similar number of victims. Between 1999-00 and 2002-03 the most frequent age group for all victims was 31-35, but changed to 41-50 in 2003-04 (tables 7 and 7a).
- When looking at the incidence per 100,000 population, females are at most risk of being victims of domestic abuse when aged between 22 and 25 and males when aged between 31 and 35 (table 7).
- The most frequent age group for perpetrators is 41-50 for both males and females, as it has been every year since 1999-00 when it was 31-35 (tables 8 and 8a). In terms of incidence per 100,000 population, males are most likely to be perpetrators when aged between 31 and 35, and females between 26 and 30 (table 8).
- The age of a victim of an incident of domestic abuse is likely to be very similar to the age group of the perpetrator; tending to be either in the same age group as the perpetrator or in the age group immediately below (table 9).
3.6. Incidents of domestic abuse by relationship between victim and perpetrator
- Just over 41 per cent of the incidents of domestic abuse recorded by the police involved co-habitees or spouses, with more cases recorded relating to co-habitees (23 per cent) than to spouses (19 per cent). In 34 per cent of cases, the victim and perpetrator were ex-partners or ex-spouses. In 16 per cent of cases, the victim and perpetrator were in an on-going relationship but were not cohabiting (table 10). This pattern is similar to that shown in previous years (table 10a). 'Other' includes relationships not fitting into specified categories, and cases where the relationship is unknown.
3.7. Location of incidents of domestic abuse
- The overwhelming majority of incidents of domestic abuse took place in the home (90 per cent of all incidents where the location was recorded). This was more likely if the victim and perpetrator cohabited i.e. were a `spouse' or `co-habitee' (95 per cent of all incidents where location was recorded) (table 11 and chart 3).
Chart 3 - Incidents of domestic abuse recorded by the police: Location of incident by relationship, where known, 2005-06
- In all other relationships, excluding those who were a 'spouse' or 'co-habitee', the proportion of incidents taking place in a home dropped to 87 per cent or less of all incidents where location was recorded - the victim's home accounting for 63 per cent. This is a very similar pattern to that observed in previous years (table 11a).
- Incidents of domestic abuse generally took place within the victim's home (including the joint home when the victim and perpetrator cohabited), regardless of the relationship between victim and perpetrator.
3.8. Crimes and offences of domestic abuse, action taken by police
- Where an incident of domestic abuse resulted in a crime or offence being recorded a report was submitted to the procurator fiscal in 63 per cent of cases. This is slightly down on the 66 per cent recorded in 2004-05, but higher than the low point of 54 per cent recorded in 2003-04 (tables 13 and 13a).
- In 4 per cent of cases in 2005-6 a police warning was given; 21 per cent of cases involved some other type of action and in 12 per cent of cases no further action was taken. The early years of this series showed no further action taken in 11 to 12 per cent of cases, rising to 16 per cent in 2003-04 before falling to 5 per cent in 2004-05 (tables 13 and 13a).
- The proportion of crimes and offences of domestic abuse referred to the procurator fiscal varied considerably. In Grampian the proportion was 34 per cent, in Tayside 37 per cent, while the proportions were 93 per cent in Central and 100 per cent in Northern. This variation, however, reflects the differences in police practice in recording a crime or offence following an incident of domestic abuse ( see Note 5.2.5.). In general, police forces recording a higher proportion of incidents of domestic abuse as a crime or offence tend to refer lower proportions of these cases to the procurator fiscal (tables 1 and 14).
- There was less variation between forces in the proportion of all incidents of domestic abuse which resulted in referral to the procurator fiscal, ranging from 21 per cent in Central to 38 per cent in Dumfries and Galloway (table 1).
3.9 Day of occurrence of domestic abuse incidents
- The day of occurrence of incidents of domestic abuse shows the expected pattern, with more incidents being reported on the weekend. Although time of incident is not recorded, it is likely that the number of incidents recorded on Saturday and Sunday include many that occurred late on Friday and Saturday nights (table 16 and chart 4).
Chart 4 - Incidents of domestic abuse recorded by the police: day of week incident occurred, 2005-06
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