Chamber and committees

The Scottish Executive is currently conducting research in the area of domestic abuse. However, according to Yearnshire S (1997) "Analysis of cohort" published in Bewley S, Friend J, and Mezey G Violence Against Women, London, RCOG Press, in the context of domestic abuse it has been estimated that, on average, women are assaulted 35 times before they contact the police.

This information is not held centrally.

Reid-Howie Associates have been contracted to carry out an evaluation of the Zero Tolerance Charitable Trust's "Respect" educational package, which will be piloted in schools and youth groups in Edinburgh and Glasgow from February 2001. The report of the research will be completed by 31 July 2001.In addition, I have asked the Central Research Unit to commission research into male victims of domestic abuse. This research is likely to commence in the summer, with the final report being available early next year.

I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-10179 on 30 October.

The recorded crime statistics collected centrally do not include information on the victims of the crimes and therefore cannot distinguish those crimes of sexual assault where the victims were children. The only information available derives from some internal research covering crimes of child sexual abuse recorded by the police in a three-month period. This research suggests that, although recorded crimes of child sexual abuse are rare, they represent a substantial proportion of crimes of indecency recorded by the police. The available information is given in the following table:Crimes of indecency¹ recorded by the police in Scotland,1 January - 31 March 1999

	All victims	Children	Per cent of crimes against children
Rape	188	65	35
Indecent assault	320	86	27
Lewd & libidinous practices	396	315	80
Indecent exposure	215	80	37
Sexual intercourse with a girl under 16	46	47	1022
Other	67	28	42
TOTAL	1,232	621	50

Notes:

1. Offences related to prostitution are excluded. 2. By definition, sexual intercourse with a girl under 16 is child sexual abuse. The information collected for the research was extracted from different computer systems from those holding recorded crime data, hence the anomaly.

There is no available information about the average length of time for a case of domestic assault to progress through the criminal justice system, from charge by the police to verdict.

The Procurator Fiscal Service has set a target in its Strategic Plan for 2000-03, where an accused is not in custody, to take and implement decisions in 80% of all cases within seven weeks of receipt of an offence report, and to issue a summary complaint citation for a first diet hearing to be held within nine weeks of receipt. The scheduling of diets thereafter is for the local sheriff clerk.In custody and in solemn cases, the investigation and prosecution of offences is subject to strict statutory time limits.

The Action Plan of the National Strategy to Address Domestic Abuse in Scotland includes a recommendation to develop links between local groups and the national group through information sharing and dissemination of good practice.As a first step the Scottish Executive is organising a Conference on the National Strategy to take place on 13 February 2001, to which non-governmental organisations, and local and national service providers have been invited.

As stated in my replies to questions S1W-12713 and S1W-12706, the Scottish Executive is carrying out evaluation research of the Zero Tolerance Charitable Trust's "Respect" educational package. This research will involve asking children and young people, as well as their teachers and youth workers, about their knowledge of, and attitudes to domestic abuse. In addition, research will shortly be carried out into attitudes and perceptions of the general public, in association with the current domestic abuse advertising campaign.A National Group to Address Domestic Abuse in Scotland will shortly be established to oversee the implementation of the National Strategy. Decisions about future research will be taken by this group.

The information requested is not held centrally.

The Crime Prevention Unit of the Justice Department co-ordinates the work of Scottish Executive departments in tackling domestic abuse.