Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid) 28 January 2021
First, I thank the Justice Committee for its close scrutiny of this important bill. The pandemic has sparked a plague of domestic violence that the United Nations has called a “shadow pandemic”. We are told to stay home and stay safe, but unfortunately for a lot of women, their home is not safe. Close the Gap notes that one in four women experiences domestic violence in her lifetime.
Women are not subjected only to physical abuse; they are subjected to coercive control. The Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2018, which sought to criminalise coercive control, was a very significant development in the law.
The lockdown has inadvertently given abusers the means by which to further restrict their partners’ freedom and is threatening their safety. Scottish Women’s Aid reports that two thirds of survivors who identify as currently experiencing abuse told the organisation that the abuse started during Covid-19 lockdown restrictions.
The existing system of civil protection orders in Scotland offers predominately longer-term protection to the person who is at risk, so the bill seeks to add new immediate and short-term powers and adds to the legal resource for people who are at risk of domestic abuse.
The bill brings us into step with a range of countries including England, Wales, the Netherlands, Austria, Germany and Spain, which have introduced short-term protective orders that are aimed at tackling domestic abuse.
The bill also proposes two new powers that do not require that the consent of the person who is at risk be exercised. A senior police officer will have the power to impose a domestic abuse protection notice on a suspected perpetrator of abuse, and the power will be available to the civil court, on application by the police, to grant a domestic abuse protection order against the perpetrator of abuse. The bill proposes that that would last up to three months in total. Those new powers will have legal effect only in Scotland, and not in the rest of the United Kingdom.
The vast majority of victims of domestic abuse are women, although children are also victims. Children experience short and long-term cognitive, behavioural and emotional effects as a result of witnessing domestic abuse. Only this week, it was reported that the NSPCC is concerned that, during the period of the pandemic, the risk of young people suffering terrible consequences from domestic abuse has intensified. The NSPCC helpline for adults service is increasingly worried about children, and has heard from neighbours who report hearing children crying and incessant arguing in nearby homes.
The average monthly number of domestic abuse referrals from the NSPCC to Scottish agencies including the police and local authorities has risen from 32 in the first three months of last year to 42 in the last two months. Calls to the NSPCC helpline have risen by more than 50 per cent across the UK. Joanna Barrett from NSPCC Scotland said this week that
“With families facing increased pressure behind closed doors, lockdown restrictions have made some children more vulnerable to experiencing domestic abuse, as well as other forms of abuse and neglect.”
We believe that the protections in the bill need to apply equally to children who might have been direct victims of abuse.
Section 18 of the bill proposes a new power for social landlords to end a tenant’s interest in a tenancy when there has been domestic abuse. That matter was brought to my attention by the Chartered Institute of Housing and by Scottish Women’s Aid. The section intends to help tenants who have been affected by domestic abuse to remain in the family home and avoid moving into temporary emergency accommodation.
I note the contribution of the homelessness and rough sleeping action group and Scottish Women’s Aid, which have done incredible work in that area. Dr Marsha Scott, the chief executive of Scottish Women’s Aid, said:
“Domestic abuse is the leading cause of women’s homelessness in Scotland”.
and
“We have long said that Emergency Protective Orders will make an immediate and significant difference for those women and children, offering them respite and breathing space as they seek support and safety.”
The role of social landlords is also key, but as other members have said, it is one of the aspects of the bill that will need to be tested to ensure that it is compliant with human rights law. I have a question for the minister who closes the debate. What happens to a perpetrator when they are removed from the home? Is there an obligation to house them?
I support the general principles of the bill. Once again, the Scottish Parliament has shown that it is leading the way in challenging domestic abuse for the women, children and others who are affected by it. When the legislation has gone through Parliament and undergone its scrutiny, it will make a very significant contribution.
16:45