Domestic abuse is illegal under the criminal law. The Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2018 defines domestic abuse or coercive control, as a course of abusive behaviour directed at a partner or former partner which can be violent or  threatening or intimidating; or directed at a partner or former partner, or their child, or at another person, and have any of the following effects on that partner or former partner: making them dependent or subordinate; isolating them from friends, relatives or other sources of support; controlling, regulating or monitoring day to day activities; depriving them of or restricting their freedom of action; or frightening, humiliating, degrading or punishing them.

Importantly, this expands the law, from its previous limited focus on physical violence, to recognise that abuse doesn’t have to be physical to be considered domestic abuse.

Individual incidents of assault, sexual assault and of threatening and abusive behaviour are also crimes and can be reported to Police Scotland.

Stalking is also a crime and you can report stalking to the police. If you are being followed or harassed for example by phone, text, email or a combination of these, your partner or ex-partner could be charged with a stalking offence. It is important to keep evidence of this and we can provide you with a stalking diary.

Reporting Domestic Abuse to the Police

To report your partner or ex-partner for a domestic abuse incident in an emergency, call 999. The police should make your case a priority. Otherwise, phone your local police on 101 to report non-emergencies.

When the police attend they will check to see if you’re injured or need treatment. They will then try to gather evidence. In Scotland it must be from two sources, usually your statement plus witness information from anyone who saw or heard the incident, such as a neighbour. If you do have any injuries, they may take photos. Look for any other evidence of damage, such as broken door locks, punched walls or doors. 

They will then separately interview you and your partner (if they’re at the scene). If an older child was there at the time, the police might want to speak to them. Also take a note of any other children who are present or will be present in the future. If there are children, the police will refer the incident to Social Care Direct so that they can work with you to protect your children.

If the police have enough evidence that your partner has committed a crime, they may arrest him and keep him in custody until he appears in court, usually the next working day. Alternatively, they may charge him with the crime and give him an undertaking to attend court on a specific date within the next few weeks. The police will also then put police bail in place where the accused will not be allowed to contact or approach you.

EWA operates a Domestic Abuse Court Support Service, EDDACS, for female victims involved in criminal cases, processed through the Edinburgh Domestic Abuse Court at Edinburgh Sheriff Court.

The civil law in Scotland can also be used to protect you or children in the context of domestic abuse. You may need to take civil court action to seek court orders if you need to sort out arrangements for children after separation, or if you need to apply for a divorce or to protect your financial position, property or home after separation.

You may be able to resolve some of these matters without going to court but it will always be important to seek appropriate legal advice from a family law solicitor to find out what is best for you.  If you are working with us, you may be referred to our EWA Legal Services Project for legal advice or you can visit the Scottish Women’s Right Centre website to find a solicitor. 

There are a number of civil protection orders you can seek from the civil court including:

Exclusion order

If you need to remove an abusive partner from your home, an exclusion order will be necessary to suspend the occupancy rights of an abusive partner, and may be the appropriate option for you. Evidence in the form of your account given via written sworn statement called an Affidavit is needed, and it can be helpful to have medical evidence (for eg from a doctor or counsellor) of any risk of injury to your physical or mental health.

With an exclusion order the police can arrest your partner if he tries to enter or occupy your home.

If you own or rent your home in your name only, and are not married, your partner has no occupancy rights to enter or occupy your home so you have the power to exclude them without a court order (for instance by changing the locks).

Interdict

An interdict is a court order that can be put in place for your protection which seeks to ban or prohibit specified conduct and behaviour of an abusive partner, for example, that the abuser is not to contact or approach you, or enter a specific street or local area, or within a certain distance from you. A solicitor can apply for an interim interdict quite quickly if it is needed urgently, usually without the need for evidence at that stage.

For the best protection a “power of arrest” and/or a determination that the interdict is a “domestic abuse interdict” should then be requested by your solicitor at which stage evidence of the conduct, usually in the form of your account given via written sworn statement called an Affidavit, will be required by the court. A breach of a domestic abuse interdict with a power of arrest is a criminal offence and an abuser can therefore be arrested and charged.

Non-harassment order (NHO)

Everyone has the right to be free from harassment. If your partner or ex-partner is following you, phoning or messaging you, or behaving in a way which causes you alarm or distress, you can apply to the civil court for a non-harassment order. You need to give at least two examples of this behaviour. If your partner breaks the conditions of the non-harassment order, the police can arrest him. He may face court proceedings, a fine, or imprisonment. It is a crime to breach a non-harassment order.

Disclosure Scheme for Domestic Abuse Scotland (DSDAS), known as Clare’s Law in England, allows anyone to ask police if their partner has a history of domestic abuse or violent acts. The intention of this scheme is to give members of the public a formal mechanism to make enquiries about an individual who they are in a relationship with or who is in a relationship with someone they know, and there is a concern that the individual may be abusive towards their partner. This then aims to enable potential victims to make an informed choice on whether to continue the relationship, and provides further support to assist them when making that informed choice.

If you are worried about someone else, DSDAS extends the right to ask about someone’s partner to concerned relatives, friends and neighbours. Any concerned third party can make an application, not just the potential victim. It should be noted that a third-party person making an application would not necessarily receive information about the individual concerned.

It may be more appropriate for someone else to receive the information, such as the potential victim or another person who is best placed to protect the potential victim. The scheme gives Police Scotland the power to tell people where there is a risk of harm. They can proactively share information if they believe someone is at risk of domestic abuse by their partner, even if it is not asked for.

You can apply for a DSDAS check on the Police Scotland website, by phoning 101 or by speaking to an officer at any Police station.

After the application is submitted, it is passed to one of Police Scotland’s domestic abuse departments. The information will be added to a DSDAS database, and they might need to contact you for more information. If police checks show that the individual has a record of abusive behaviour; or there is other information to indicate the person you know is at risk, the police will consider sharing this information with the person(s) best placed to protect the potential victim.