Meeting of the Parliament 28 January 2016
A person knows what sexual and domestic abuse are if they have been a victim of either, but refining a specific set of criminal offences that can bring about successful convictions requires hard work, dedication and comprehension of the Scottish legal system. I welcome the on-going consultation on a definition, and I look forward to the results.
The nature of legislating in this area is convoluted, and it must be precision led. We must discuss and debate, as we are doing today, so that all the potential loopholes are tightened up while we ensure at the same time that there is sufficient flexibility to address different situations. We have heard about many different situations in the debate today.
The Scottish Government must be commended and, I believe, the Justice Committee specifically must also be commended for its thoughtful, caring and compassionate approach in taking evidence. The members took time to listen when witnesses gave evidence in committee, and they raised a range of themes that we can continue to discuss at stage 2.
Under the law as it stands in Scotland, there is a crossover between terms such as “grievous bodily harm” and “domestic abuse”. That is central to the need to produce effective legislation that meets the specific needs of victims. As the Scottish Women’s Convention pointed out in its submission,
“The overarching objective of the Bill is to improve how the justice system responds to abusive behaviour, including domestic abuse and sexual harm. It also aims to help improve public safety by ensuring that perpetrators are appropriately held to account for their conduct.”
I will take a moment to remind members of some of the statistics on domestic abuse in Scotland. In 2014-15 there were 59,882 incidents of domestic abuse recorded by the police, which represented an increase of 2.5 per cent. I hope that the increase has more to do with women feeling more confident about reporting such incidents, but we should not view it only in that context. Of the incidents that were recorded last year, 54 per cent resulted in at least one crime or offence being committed. The victims were mainly women—79 per cent—and the domestic abuse was most likely to take place at the weekends and to happen to people aged 26 to 30.
The big problem remains, however: women are not getting justice in the current system. The bill seeks to redress that situation. Many members will be aware of the successful drive to have Clare’s law rolled out in Scotland, which I have greatly supported, and of the work that I have done in increasing awareness of revenge porn—I look forward to that becoming a specific criminal offence. I pay tribute at this point to all the organisations that have informed and helped me on those issues and I look forward to seeing their success result in decent legislation.
There have been good developments that are improving access to justice, but the civil protections that are offered are still not enough of an incentive for more women to seek the assistance of the law. There are too many aspects that discourage women from reporting incidents to the police, and we need to change that. That is why the bill will include the introduction of a statutory aggravator. As the Scottish Women’s Convention said:
“Such a measure in relation to domestic abuse sends the message that those who perpetrate such crimes will be adequately punished.”
Marking out revenge porn is vital for the victims and for the right to due process, and getting the right convictions will send out the clear message that it is unacceptable and that there will be a zero-tolerance approach to those who do it. Social media give us so many ways in which to express ourselves and our opinions, however bizarre or unpopular they are in some cases, but they give no one the right to post pictures of ex-partners without either their knowledge or their consent. Social media do not provide a licence to abuse.
Personal use of technology in its many forms is very difficult to police. It is so easy to press a button and post a picture, but the sad and tragic tales of the people who have been exposed to revenge porn tell us how utterly devastating the effect can be.
I support the bill in its entirety and I look forward to stage 2. I hope that through the bill process we will create legislation that will mean that perpetrators will pay a hefty price.
16:16