Domestic abuse: statistics recorded by the police in Scotland - 2012-13

2. Main points

• The crime/offence statistics reported in this bulletin refer to the most serious crime/offence associated with each incident of domestic abuse. The most common crime or offence in 2012-13 was common assault, at 42% (12,778) of all incidents where a crime or offence was recorded. Threatening or abusive behaviour was the second most common crime or offence, accounting for 19% (5,685) of incidents where a crime or offence was recorded (table 2 and note 4.7).
• The overall number of domestic abuse incidents recorded by the police in Scotland in 2012-13 was 1,131 per 100,000 population (table 3), similar to the 1,129 incidents per 100,000 in 2011-12.
• Incidents with a female victim and a male perpetrator represented 80% (45,916) of all domestic abuse incidents in 2012-13 where this information was recorded. Over the ten year period covered by the bulletin, this percentage has gradually decreased from 89% in 2003-04. The percentage of domestic abuse incidents with a male victim and female perpetrator has increased steadily from 9% (3,695) in 2003-04 to stand at 17% (9,946) in 2012-13 (table 7).
• For incidents where information regarding repeat victimisation of domestic abuse was available in 2012-13, 61% (31,397) involved victims who had previously experienced domestic abuse, the same as in 2011-12 (table 9).
• When looking at the number of incidents per 100,000 population in 2012-13, females are most at risk of becoming victims of domestic abuse when aged between 22 and 25 years and males when aged between 26 and 30 years (table 11).
• In 2012-13, incidents of domestic abuse recorded by the police involving cohabitees or partners accounted for 42% of all incidents where the relationship was recorded, with more incidents related to partners (23%) than cohabitees (19%). Partners refer to couples who do not live together. Incidents involving spouses accounted for a further 13% (table 17).
• Since 2003-04, the percentage of incidents involving spouses has decreased from 22% to 13% in 2012-13. There has also been a decrease in the percentage of incidents involving cohabitees from 26% in 2003-04 to 19% in 2012-13. In 44% of incidents in 2012-13 where the relationship was known, the victim and perpetrator were ex-partners or ex-spouses. This figure has been increasing steadily from 32% in 2003-04 (table 17).
• In 2012-13, 39% of incidents of domestic abuse were referred to the procurator fiscal (23,606). This represents a slight decrease over the previous three year period, where the percentage of incidents referred to the procurator fiscal remained constant at 42%. Of the incidents where a crime/offence was recorded, 78% were referred to the procurator fiscal in 2012-13, an increase of one percentage point compared to 2011-12 (77%) (table 2).