Non-Harassment Orders statistics: FOI release

Information requested

Part 1

a) The number of people convicted for sexual offences made subject to Non-Harassment Orders (in relation to their victim) as part of their sentencing in each year since and including 2018/19 and including the part year of 2024/25.

b) The number of people convicted for sexual offences not made subject to Non-Harassment Orders (in relation to their victim) as part of their sentencing in each year since and including 2018/19 and including the part year of 2024/25.

Part 2

a) The number of people convicted for domestic abuse offences made subject to Non-Harassment Orders (in relation to their victim/s) as part of their sentencing in each year since and including 2018/19 and including the part year of 2024/25.

b) The number of people convicted for domestic abuse offences not made subject to Non-Harassment Orders (in relation to their victim/s) as part of their sentencing in each year since and including 2018/19 and including the part year of 2024/25.

Response

Data about the number of people convicted has been extracted from the management information used to publish the Scottish Government Justice Analytical Services Criminal Disposals Dashboard

(Source: Scottish Government Justice Analytical Services Criminal Disposals Dashboard).

Table 1 shows the total number of people convicted for sexual offences and how many of those people got a Non-Harassment Order (in relation to their victim) from April 2018 to September 2024.

Table 1: Non-Harassment orders for accused convicted with sexual crimes.

Number of case-accused 1,2,3	Non-Harassment orders issued for any of the sexual crimes
Financial year	No	Yes
2018-2019	1,395	24
2019-2020	1,326	49
2020-2021	807	44
2021-2022	1,200	113
2022-2023	1,321	149
2023-2024	1,478	254
April 2024-September 2024	1,056	180
Number of people convicted of at least one sexual crime in a case. If there are multiple accused in a case they will be counted separately. If a person appears in more than one case per year then they will be counted more than once.

Sexual crimes included in this analysis are the ones defined in the new crime classification (Recorded Crime in Scotland, 2021-2022): rape & attempted rape, sexual assault, causing to view sexual activity or images, communicating indecently, threatening to or disclosing intimate images, indecent photos of children, crimes associated with prostitution and other sexual crimes. In order for the Crown to be able to apply for an NHO, the offence for which the offender is convicted must involve misconduct towards another person ("the victim") whom the NHO is intended to protect. This may not be relevant in all sexual offence cases.

Table 2 shows the total number of people convicted for domestic abuse offences and how many of those people got a Non-Harassment Order (in relation to their victim) from April 2018 to September 2024.

Table 2: Non-Harassment orders for case-accused convicted with domestic abuse crimes.

Number of case-accused 1,2,3	Non-Harassment orders issued for any domestic abuse crime
Financial year	No	Yes
2019-2020	88	122
2020-2021	131	239
2021-2022	214	491
2022-2023	197	601
2023-2024	208	760
April 2024-September 2024	101	465

1. Number of people convicted of at least one domestic abuse crime in a case.       

2. If there are multiple accused in a case they will be counted separately.

3. If a person appears in more than one case per year then they will be counted more than once.

Domestic abuse offences in this analysis include only offences under section 1 of the Domestic Abuse (S) Act 2018. They don’t include other offences with domestic abuse aggravators.

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