Scottish Government
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Standing up to domestic abuse
National statistics published recently - based on information from police forces across Scotland for 2008-09 - show a five percentage point increase in incidents of domestic abuse being recorded as crimes or offences.
This means that the figure now stands at 55 per cent, up from 50 per cent of incidents in 2007-08 and over the previous five years.
The police also referred 35 per cent of incidents to the procurator fiscal - up three percentage points on the previous year.
The number of incidents being recorded by the police has steadily increased over the last 10 years. A total of 53,681 incidents were recorded in 2008-09, up eight per cent on the previous year.
The majority of incidents reported - 89 per cent - took place in a house.
Housing and Communities Minister Alex Neil said:
"It is encouraging that police forces are cracking down on these despicable crimes.
"We've done a lot of work to raise awareness that this behaviour is totally unacceptable and that help is available.
"We hope that the continued rise in incidents being reported shows that more people are now coming forward, safe in the knowledge that they will be supported.
"We are also investing millions to support initatives which help people to get their lives back on track and look forward to a brighter future."
