Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2018 - male victims' experiences of the criminal justice system: emerging findings

Introduction and background

This report has been collated as part of the Reporting Requirement (Section 14) of the Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2018 (DASA) to assess the effectiveness of the new law. The Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2018 (referred to as 'the Act') came into force on the 1st April 2019. The Act aims to improve how the justice system responds to domestic abuse by ensuring that the criminal law reflects that domestic abuse can often be a course of conduct which takes place over a sustained period of time and that this can consist of both physical violence and threats, and psychological and emotional abuse. Under Act Section 14, subsection 2 (f) is the requirement to provide 'information about the experience of witnesses (including witnesses who are children) at court'^[1].

This report presents the findings from a survey capturing the views and experiences of male adult victims/survivors in order to improve our understanding of the operation and effectiveness of the new domestic abuse legislation.

In addition to this survey, the Scottish Government funded research on the experiences of child and adult victims/witnesses in domestic abuse court cases, including a survey for female victims of domestic abuse and in-depth, qualitative research with child and adult victims/witnesses, including a small number of men.^[2]

There are a number of data sources which collect information on domestic abuse in Scotland.^[3] Police Scotland recorded 65,251 incidents of domestic abuse in 2020-21, 40% (25,825) included the recording of at least one crime or offence. Where gender was recorded 18% of victims of reported domestic abuse were male (8,325). In incidents leading to the recording of a crime or offence, 4,118 had a male victim and 21,512 had a female victim. Where both the gender of the victim and the accused is known, 16% involved a male victim and a female accused (80% had a female victim and a male accused). This increased slightly from 15% in 2019-20. In the remainder of domestic abuse incidents, the victim and accused were the same gender.^[4] In relation to the Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2018, 1,384 crimes were recorded under the Act in 2020-21, accounting for 4% of crimes and offences recorded as part of a domestic abuse incident in 2020-21. This was the same proportion of crimes and offences as in 2019-20.^[5]

The most recent Scottish Crime and Justice Survey (SCJS)^[6], published in March 2021, found that in 2018/20, 16.5% of adults said they had experienced at least one incident of partner abuse since the age of 16. Since the age of 16, just over one in ten men have experienced partner abuse (11.2%), compared with just over one in five women (21.2%). Similarly, experiences of partner abuse in the 12 months prior to interview were less common for men (2.6%) than women (3.7%).

The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) reported that in 2020-21, 33,425 charges were reported with a domestic abuse identifier. 28,975 (87%) of the charges reported with a domestic abuse identifier were in cases where the accused was male. 1,581 charges were reported under the Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2018, accounting for 4.7% of all domestic abuse charges reported. This represents an increase of 48% on the 2019-20 total of 1,065 (3.5% of all domestic abuse charges reported). Court proceedings were commenced in 95% of the DASA charges reported. 95% (1,505) of the DASA charges reported were in cases where the accused was male.^[7]

In 2020-21, 383 people were convicted of crimes under DASA, up by 81% from 212 in 2019-20. Of the total number of people convicted under DASA in 2020-21, 96% were male (369), compared to 14 females. The vast majority of people convicted of an offence with a domestic abuse statutory aggravation were male (5,765 convictions or 89%).^[8]

It is important to note, however, that the available published data over the period of implementation from 2019 to 2021 is likely to have been significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic (e.g. court closures). The data is therefore unlikely to be indicative of any longer term trends and, as such, caution should be exercised when interpreting or drawing conclusions from these datasets at this stage.