Chamber and committees

National guidelines for all health care workers on responding to domestic abuse were issued for public consultation on 28 June 2002. These guidelines will help midwives and other health care professionals recognise when women are experiencing domestic abuse and respond appropriately by offering sensitive support and advice.The guidance makes reference to the Confidential Enquiries into Maternal Deaths in the UK (2001) report, which estimates that over a third of domestic abuse incidences start in pregnancy.

The National Group to Address Domestic Abuse in Scotland has been established to oversee the implementation of the three-year Action Plan in the National Strategy. The Executive plans to publish a progress report in the autumn.

Agencies including social work, police, education, health, the Scottish Children's Reporter Administration and the voluntary sector, work together to protect children considered to be at risk of harm through participation in the sex industry. Action taken would depend on the circumstances of the individual child. If necessary the child can be removed to a place of immediate safety. A range of resources is available to support vulnerable young people.

The Scottish Executive does not provide direct services to women and children experiencing domestic abuse.

It is for Chief Constables to decide how best to tackle operational issues taking account of local guidance and also local needs and circumstances. Forces know the importance of using experienced interviewing officers and of developing in-force training, with the purpose of providing an atmosphere of care and concern, and will seek to ensure that victims of child prostitution are treated with tact and sympathy. While the Executive has not issued specific guidance to the police in this area, a working group chaired by the Scottish Executive is currently considering issues relating to young runaways and children abused through prostitution.

Audit of NHS Board strategies for maternity services indicates that 11 NHS boards provide post qualifying training on domestic abuse, one was considering developing a training programme and in another analysis of midwives' training needs was under way. Of the remaining NHS boards, one has a domestic abuse strategy in place and one has not as yet indicated their position on domestic abuse training. Several NHS Boards refer to multi-agency working to tackle domestic abuse.National guidelines for health care workers on responding to domestic abuse, shortly to be issued for public consultation, recommend that education and training on domestic abuse be available to all health service staff.

The Scottish Executive has commissioned a number of domestic abuse related research projects but none specifically into the prevalence of domestic abuse amongst people with disabilities.The Scottish Executive's National Strategy to Address Domestic Abuse and its associated Action Plan, which were published in November 2000, provide a comprehensive and wide-ranging strategy that involves a number of policy areas. The strategy is an inclusive one and embraces and recognises the specific needs of different categories of victims including people with disabilities. A budget of £4.5 million was allocated over three years to assist in the implementation of the Action Plan.

The Scottish Executive, through Communities Scotland, is currently funding 13 projects under the three-year £10 million Refuge Development Programme. All projects contain proposals to provide access to refuge provision for women and children with disabilities.In 2000-01 the Executive provided capital grant of £462,500 to improve disabled access to 18 Women's Aid refuges and/or offices.The Executive funds the Domestic Abuse Helpline and in June 2002 provided £2,850 to install a text phone service for hearing impaired people.

The Scottish Needs Assessment Programme (SNAP) report on Domestic Violence (1997) gave an overview of research, which shows that women are more likely to report domestic abuse during pregnancy and that the majority experience repeated acts of violence. The research also indicates that domestic abuse increases in severity and frequency during pregnancy and is directed both at the mother and at the foetus.The Confidential Enquiries into Maternal Deaths in the UK (2001) report Why Mothers Die 1997-1999 was jointly commissioned by the Chief Medical Officer of the Scottish Executive Health Department, the National Institute of Clinical Excellence and the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety for Northern Ireland. The report indicates that about 30% of domestic violence starts during pregnancy. It states that of the 378 women whose deaths were reported between 1997-99, 45 (12%) voluntarily reported violence during pregnancy to a health care professional.

Children should not be involved in prostitution and it is important that proper prevention, protection and re-integration strategies are in place to deal with this where it occurs. Children do not enter prostitution willingly. Their involvement is usually the result of coercion or deception. The police fully recognise that those who are responsible for the abuse and coercion of children in this way should be rigorously investigated and prosecuted. It is for individual Chief Constables to decide how best to tackle any operational issues, taking account of local needs and circumstances. A working group chaired by the Scottish Executive is currently considering issues relating to young runaways and children abused through prostitution.