Moray police record more than two domestic abuse incidents a day
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DOMESTIC violence incidents recorded by police in Moray have risen to more than two a day.
New figures show that 803 domestic abuse incidents were recorded by police in Moray in 2018-19. This contrasts with a figure of 389 less than a decade ago, in 2009-10.
Moray Women's Aid says it is currently receiving two referrals every day. Last year, referrals for women seeking support from Moray Women's Aid totalled 582, and at the current rate the figure for this year is likely to jump higher still.
Amid the increase, Highlands and Islands Conservative MSP Jamie Halcro Johnston says there is a risk that domestic abusers are being "let off the hook" after the SNP Government passed a presumption against short sentences in June last year.
Mr Halcro Johnston said: "It is concerning that, in less than a decade, incidents of domestic violence in Moray appear to have doubled to an average of more than two a day.
"This is far more than can be explained simply by improved reporting and recording of offences.
"This rise comes at a time when the SNP Government has effectively abolished jail sentences of less than a year – risking domestic abusers being let off the hook.
"The worry must be that this could result in abusers being let straight back into homes – which is simply unacceptable."
The MSP added: "I fully support the police in their efforts to protect victims of domestic abuse and to bring domestic abusers to justice. Sadly, those efforts risk being undermined by a soft-touch SNP government which seems content to let such people walk free from court."
Elle Johnston, service manager at Moray Women's Aid, said it was hard to pinpoint exactly why figures had rocketed. She said: "Many television soaps at the moment have domestic abuse storylines, including gaslighting as well as physical abuse. There are women who, through watching these programmes, have come to recognise that they are victims themselves."
She added that the Domestic Abuse Scotland Act, which came into force in April last year, recognising more subtle coercive and controlling behaviours as abuse, could well have contributed to the rise.
Meanwhile Moray Conservative MP Douglas Ross has hit out over a four-and-a-half-month wait for a reply from SNP Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf after raising a constituent's domestic abuse issue.
Mr Ross said he wrote to Mr Yousaf in September last year, which has been followed up with four reminders. Mr Ross has now written to First Minister Nicola Sturgeon in an effort to get a response.
Mr Ross said: "This is totally unacceptable as I have a constituent who raised a very valid and pertinent point with me regarding the support offered to victims of domestic abuse in Scotland and nearly five months later after several attempts to get an update, or timeline for a response, I’m still waiting. More importantly, my constituent is still waiting.
"I’ve let them know what has been done trying to elicit a response from the Scottish Government, but the apparent lack of interest into the important subject of domestic abuse is unforgivable."
