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The Violence Prevention Framework (2023) sets out a comprehensive range of activity to prevent violence from happening in the first place and to reduce the impact when it does. This report highlights the progress that has been made over 2023 to 2024 with partners on our shared programme.

Introduction

Implementation of the Violence Prevention Framework supports our commitment set out in the Programme for Government to support everyone to feel safe in their communities. It also aligns with the three-year delivery plan for the Vision for Justice in Scotland.

The Framework’s ‘public health’ approach to preventing violence is a continuation of the general approach taken by the Scottish Government and its partners for over a decade. This seeks to tackle the underlying causes of violence to prevent it from happening in the first place and, where it does occur, to reduce its harms. The Framework has four main aims:

• ‘We are all safe, and feel safe, in our communities’
• ‘Our communities are stronger and more resilient’
• ‘Our relationships are healthier and more respectful’
• ‘People at risk of experiencing violence receive support to live healthier more productive lives’.

As well as highlighting the work already being undertaken across the Scottish Government, the Framework also includes 14 priority actions being taken forward under each aim, by our partners (the Scottish Violence Reduction Unit (SVRU), Medics Against Violence (MAV), YouthLink Scotland’s No Knives, Better Lives (NKBL), Police Scotland Youth Volunteers (PSYV) and Mentors in Violence Prevention (MVP)). This progress report looks at what has been achieved in the first year of the Framework and looks ahead to some of the activity planned for this financial year.

As part of implementation of the Framework, we committed to developing a Measurement Framework which will monitor high-level progress towards the Framework’s vision over the long-term. This will be published following publication of the findings from the 2023/24 Scottish Crime and Justice Survey in 2025, thereby aligning it with the very latest national data available on violence victimisation. A summary of the latest data on non-sexual violence is included below.

We will provide a Progress Report for each of the three years of its implementation to highlight ongoing developments and take account of new emerging evidence and responding to the trends over time to tackle violence.

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