Domestic abuse: statistics recorded by the police in Scotland - 2013/14 and 2014/15

1. Structure of Bulletin

1.1. This bulletin presents Official Statistics on the number of incidents of domestic abuse recorded by the police in Scotland. Some change has been made to the structure of this bulletin since the previous publication.

1.2. Key Points on incidents of domestic abuse in Scotland are on pages 2 to 3.

1.3. Chapter 2 provides a summary of the background to incidents of domestic abuse recorded by the police in Scotland. This includes details of how the data was collected.

1.4. Chapter 3 presents statistics for the last two reporting years, 2013-14 and 2014-15. It includes details on incidents and the victims and perpetrators, by change over time and analysis at the local authority level.

1.5. Chapter 4 presents information on 'Putting Domestic Abuse in Context'. It highlights some of the other data sources available on domestic abuse.

1.6. Chapter 5 presents information on incidents of domestic abuse in Scotland through a series of tables.

1.7. Annexes provide further information on the process of collecting these statistics on incidents of domestic abuse in Scotland. These include:

• Data sources and definitions;
• Quality of the statistics;
• Auditing of data by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland (HMICS);
• Stakeholder consultations;
• Comparisons with England & Wales and Northern Ireland;
• Users of the statistics;
• Future considerations; and
• Other Notes (including contact details for further analysis).