Chamber and committees

:Statistics that were released last week show that sexual crimes—rape and attempted rape—as well as domestic abuse have been on the rise. At the same time, Women’s Aid and Rape Crisis centres across the country have reached breaking point due to an influx of cases coupled with inadequate funding from the Scottish Government. As you have said today, and as the committee has heard in previous evidence sessions, deaf women face barriers that hearing women do not necessarily face. Do you believe that the Scottish Government is failing deaf women?

Professor Napier, I would like you to answer that question first, because you said earlier that all services should be upskilled and they should all be providing these expert services. It is obviously worrying that the services are under so much pressure and do not have adequate funding.

:I have a couple more questions. What do you consider to be the most pressing gaps that must be addressed in the data to properly understand the domestic abuse that is experienced by deaf women, particularly given that you have previously said that they are often grouped in wider disability categories? I open that up to anyone to respond.

Good morning, and thank you for the information that you have provided so far. In your report, you recommend the establishment of an equally safe BSL advisory group and describe that as “critical”. Will you explain why it is critical? Is it necessary for that group to be established for the other recommendations to be taken forward?

:You are absolutely right that there is a big gap in the data. That was one aspect that we looked at when I was working on my Prevention of Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Bill. Right now, when anyone goes to a police station or to the police to report domestic abuse, whether they have a disability or not would not be recorded. That question is not being asked and the information is not being recorded, so the police cannot produce the data. I will carry on pursuing that, because it is a big gap. If we do not know whether people who are coming through the door to report domestic abuse have a disability, how can we provide services and how do we know what their needs are? I absolutely agree with Professor Napier on that.

You have already answered some of what will be my last question, but I would just like to give you an understanding of other evidence that the committee has taken on neurodivergence and barriers that are faced by people with learning difficulties. Like deaf women, women with learning disabilities are more likely to have experienced domestic abuse. However, they are two distinct categories, so I wonder whether you can elaborate on how the needs of deaf women differ from those of other disabled women. You have touched on that already, but I just want you to understand that we have taken evidence on learning disabilities, and it would be good to find out what the differences are.

10:30

:Thank you very much for that response.

Obviously, it is important that the committee takes the right evidence and ensures that it puts forward the right actions to the Scottish Government. Therefore, it would be good to hear from each of you one thing—I am sure that there are many, but I am asking for only one—that you would like us to take forward from today’s evidence. It might be something that you have experienced in your organisation that we could ask the Scottish Government for to make the process a bit easier for neurodivergent people—especially victims—or to ensure that they are listened to and that a proper service is provided. If you could each give me just one suggestion, that would be great.

Does anybody else want to come in?

Thank you for those responses. I will come back to Superintendent Gallie, as something is worrying me. I am hearing from you about all the good stuff that is happening, which is good news. However, if you cannot identify those markers, and you do not collect that data, how will you know who needs that help, and how will you know to put those services in place?

In addition, when you pass information on to the Crown Office, what information are you passing on? If you are not collecting the data on whether a person has a disability or needs further help, is it—if I may use these words—a guessing game? I know that sometimes people will not tell the police; sometimes you have to ask. I am a bit worried about how information is passed on. Is it just basically the luck of the draw, where if you see something, you pass it on? You do not collect that information, and if you do not collect it, we will not have the data in the Parliament to understand how much help your services need. It is about both sides. Perhaps you can give me a bit more clarity on that. If you are not collecting the data, how do you know?

I am a member of the Scottish Parliament for the West Scotland region, from the Conservative Party. I am also a member of the committee.

It is interesting that you say that, because ethnicity and disability are the two things that I brought up around data collection in my bill on domestic abuse. It is so important that we know first hand what is happening; you can then have the services. Jenny Miller is right: how can you have services in place if you do not know what the data is? Thank you—this has been really helpful.