Chamber
Meeting of the Parliament 16 March 2011
16 Mar 2011 · S3 · Meeting of the Parliament
Item of business
Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Bill
I welcome the opportunity to support the motion in the name of my Labour colleague Rhoda Grant. I offer her my unreserved congratulations on bringing to the Parliament a bill which, when enacted, will undoubtedly better the lot of victims of domestic abuse. Domestic abuse is a totally unacceptable and repellent form of behaviour, and she is to be commended for her hard work and commitment in producing a progressive bill that I am certain will be passed overwhelmingly at decision time.
The bill seeks to widen access to justice for victims of domestic abuse and to produce a more robust and reliable response to breached civil protection orders. As Mr Ewing said, there is no doubt that domestic abuse continues to be a stain on Scottish society.
Domestic abuse in all its forms is underreported, as Stewart Maxwell said. However, the figures that we have demonstrate the worrying extent of the problem. In Scotland in 2008-09, 53,681 cases of domestic abuse were reported to the police, which was an 8 per cent increase on the number that was reported in the previous year. The figure reflects the year-on-year rise of reported incidents since data first started to be collected in 1999-2000. There is, indeed, no room for complacency, even though there was a 4 per cent decrease in reported cases last year. For instance, repeated victimisation rates remain high, despite a fall from 61 per cent in 2008-9 to 57 per cent in 2009-10.
Those shocking statistics represent flesh and blood victims who are, overwhelmingly, female and who suffer physical and sexual abuse from partners and ex-partners. The crimes range from assault and physical attack to acts that degrade and humiliate women and are perpetrated against their will, including rape.
I believe that the provisions in Rhoda Grant’s bill will tackle deficiencies in the current law and support those who are victims of gross and barbaric behaviour.
Section 1 will introduce new section 8A into the Protection from Harassment Act 1997, which will remove the requirement to show a course of conduct before a non-harassment order can be granted in civil proceedings involving domestic abuse. The new provision will mean that someone will need to provide evidence of only one occasion of harassment and not evidence that such conduct has taken place repeatedly.
The Justice Committee acknowledged in its stage 1 report the wide support, including from the Government, for removing the course of conduct requirement for civil non-harassment orders, and it was quite right to do so. No one would wish to stand in the way of legislation that will remove the requirement for a victim to undergo, in effect, a period of repeated abuse before being able to access an order. Such a state of affairs is completely unjust and unacceptable. Section 1 represents a reform that is rational, sides with the victim and, frankly, is long overdue.
I also support section 3, which creates a criminal offence when an interdict with power of arrest is breached. That reform will remove from the victim the burden of pursuing a contempt of court through the civil court and will instead place it, correctly, on the shoulders of the authorities. That provision is civilised, progressive and worthy of unanimous support.
I welcome the amendment that Rhoda Grant proposed at stage 2 and which the committee agreed unanimously that provides for a maximum penalty of 12 months’ imprisonment on summary conviction for breach of an interdict with power of arrest. That amendment was wholly appropriate and proportionate.
The bill will ensure that essential protection is available to all victims of abuse, and it demonstrates that this Parliament, in the name of the people of Scotland, will always take the appropriate measures to defend victims of abuse. It is a good bill and will do much to make Scotland a better nation. I commend it to members.
15:58
The bill seeks to widen access to justice for victims of domestic abuse and to produce a more robust and reliable response to breached civil protection orders. As Mr Ewing said, there is no doubt that domestic abuse continues to be a stain on Scottish society.
Domestic abuse in all its forms is underreported, as Stewart Maxwell said. However, the figures that we have demonstrate the worrying extent of the problem. In Scotland in 2008-09, 53,681 cases of domestic abuse were reported to the police, which was an 8 per cent increase on the number that was reported in the previous year. The figure reflects the year-on-year rise of reported incidents since data first started to be collected in 1999-2000. There is, indeed, no room for complacency, even though there was a 4 per cent decrease in reported cases last year. For instance, repeated victimisation rates remain high, despite a fall from 61 per cent in 2008-9 to 57 per cent in 2009-10.
Those shocking statistics represent flesh and blood victims who are, overwhelmingly, female and who suffer physical and sexual abuse from partners and ex-partners. The crimes range from assault and physical attack to acts that degrade and humiliate women and are perpetrated against their will, including rape.
I believe that the provisions in Rhoda Grant’s bill will tackle deficiencies in the current law and support those who are victims of gross and barbaric behaviour.
Section 1 will introduce new section 8A into the Protection from Harassment Act 1997, which will remove the requirement to show a course of conduct before a non-harassment order can be granted in civil proceedings involving domestic abuse. The new provision will mean that someone will need to provide evidence of only one occasion of harassment and not evidence that such conduct has taken place repeatedly.
The Justice Committee acknowledged in its stage 1 report the wide support, including from the Government, for removing the course of conduct requirement for civil non-harassment orders, and it was quite right to do so. No one would wish to stand in the way of legislation that will remove the requirement for a victim to undergo, in effect, a period of repeated abuse before being able to access an order. Such a state of affairs is completely unjust and unacceptable. Section 1 represents a reform that is rational, sides with the victim and, frankly, is long overdue.
I also support section 3, which creates a criminal offence when an interdict with power of arrest is breached. That reform will remove from the victim the burden of pursuing a contempt of court through the civil court and will instead place it, correctly, on the shoulders of the authorities. That provision is civilised, progressive and worthy of unanimous support.
I welcome the amendment that Rhoda Grant proposed at stage 2 and which the committee agreed unanimously that provides for a maximum penalty of 12 months’ imprisonment on summary conviction for breach of an interdict with power of arrest. That amendment was wholly appropriate and proportionate.
The bill will ensure that essential protection is available to all victims of abuse, and it demonstrates that this Parliament, in the name of the people of Scotland, will always take the appropriate measures to defend victims of abuse. It is a good bill and will do much to make Scotland a better nation. I commend it to members.
15:58
In the same item of business
The Presiding Officer (Alex Fergusson)
NPA
The next item of business is a debate on motion S3M-8136, in the name of Rhoda Grant, on the Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Bill. I repeat that we are very tight ...
Rhoda Grant (Highlands and Islands) (Lab)
Lab
It gives me great pleasure to open the debate. The bill has taken a long time to bring forward, and there were times when I thought that we would never get h...
The Minister for Community Safety (Fergus Ewing)
SNP
I am grateful for the opportunity to outline the Government’s approach to the bill.In one unfortunate respect, the bill is timely, in that the incidence of d...
Richard Baker (North East Scotland) (Lab)
Lab
I join all those who have commended Rhoda Grant for bringing before Parliament this important legislation to tackle domestic abuse. She can be proud of her w...
Bill Aitken (Glasgow) (Con)
Con
Instances of domestic abuse in Scotland remain stubbornly—indeed, disgracefully—high. There were 51,926 incidents of domestic abuse in the last recorded year...
Robert Brown (Glasgow) (LD)
LD
The bill addresses a serious matter to which the Parliament has devoted quite a bit of attention over the years since 1999 and which calls for serious politi...
Stewart Maxwell (West of Scotland) (SNP)
SNP
I begin where Robert Brown left off by saying how much I admire the work that Rhoda Grant has undertaken on the bill. It is not easy to take through any memb...
Bill Butler (Glasgow Anniesland) (Lab)
Lab
I welcome the opportunity to support the motion in the name of my Labour colleague Rhoda Grant. I offer her my unreserved congratulations on bringing to the ...
Nigel Don (North East Scotland) (SNP)
SNP
I congratulate Bill Butler on that exposition of what Parliament is about, with which of course I entirely concur. I also congratulate Rhoda Grant on introdu...
Mike Pringle (Edinburgh South) (LD)
LD
Like all other members who have spoken in the debate this afternoon, I congratulate Rhoda Grant on getting the Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Bill through to stag...
Bill Aitken
Con
I thank Mike Pringle for his kind remarks, which I appreciated.I hope that when the bill is passed, Rhoda Grant does not feel that because of what happened t...
James Kelly (Glasgow Rutherglen) (Lab)
Lab
I, too, congratulate Rhoda Grant on what I am sure will be the passing of the bill later this afternoon. As Mike Pringle said, navigating a member’s bill thr...
Fergus Ewing
SNP
Maureen Macmillan was referred to earlier in proceedings, and I am delighted to see that she is in the public gallery witnessing the debate. I recall from st...
Rhoda Grant
Lab
I thank all members who took part in the debate for their kind words—in fact, their words were so kind that when Roseanna Cunningham came into the chamber sh...