Chamber and committees

The Scottish Executive welcomes the fact that local agencies involved in Sexual Abuse Awareness Month are planning a range of events and publicity. We recognise the importance of raising awareness of sexual abuse. We recently issued a research report Beyond Trauma: Mental Health Care Needs of Women Who Survived Childhood Sexual Abuse to health and social care agencies asking them to respond positively to its recommendations for service improvements. In addition we have awarded funding of £120,000 over three years to the Moira Anderson Foundation to help raise awareness of sexual abuse.

The definition of domestic abuse contained in the National Strategy to Address Domestic Abuse in Scotland includes rape by a partner or ex-partner. It is therefore within the remit of the National Group which is implementing the strategy.

This is the measure against which an assessment can be made of the level of risk an offender being at large presents to the public. Under the arrangements proposed in the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Bill, if an offender is convicted of a relevant offence and is assessed as high risk against the prescribed risk criteria then the court must impose the new sentence of an order for lifelong restriction. The bill also provides for the new Risk Management Authority to produce standards and guidelines to support the risk assessment process.

We are reviewing the need for more detailed research in this area. In the meantime we hope that the provisions of the Sexual Offences (Procedure and Evidence) Act 2002, which will be brought into force before the end of the year, will improve the way in which complainers in sex offence cases are treated in court. The impact of the act will be monitored through separate research in due course.

No further research has been carried out by the Scottish Executive specifically on the investigation, prosecution and conviction of rape cases in Scotland since the Jamieson and Burman report The Attrition of Sexual Offences in the Criminal Justice System was completed in 1999.

I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:We are currently investigating the acquisition of programmes for men convicted of violence. Our wish to follow good practice as set out in the "What Works" literature are similar to the guidelines developed by RESPECT, so far as these are relevant to the custodial setting. We will also take advice from the Scottish Executive Partnership Group on the implementation of domestic abuse programmes in order to liaise with the complementary work required in the community in regard of Women's Services and Child Protection issues.

Departmental guidance has been issued to Chief Constables on the Investigation of Complaints of Sexual Assault and covers related matters such as medical examinations, the importance of using experienced female interviewing officers, and developing in-force training, with the purpose of producing an atmosphere of care and concern. The importance and sensitivity of violence against woman has long been recognised by the police and the Scottish Executive but it is for individual Chief Constables to make local arrangements for dealing with victims. Chief Constables are expected to do their utmost to ensure that victims of rape and sexual assault are treated with tact and sympathy. Local procedures, which have been put in place by Chief Constables, will have regard to this guidance and other relevant guidance and reports, for example on domestic violence and vulnerable and intimidated witnesses.

Judicial education is a matter for the independent Judicial Studies Committee who propose to run courses and provide material on sexual crimes and procedure to coincide with the Sexual Offences (Procedure and Evidence) (Scotland) Act. I have drawn the terms of your question to the attention of the Director of Judicial Studies. From time to time visiting speakers make contributions to training sessions but it is for the committee to decide when this should happen. The Rape Crisis Network (RCN) and Scottish Women's Aid (SWA) together with other victims organisations are involved in on-going Crown Office Procurator Fiscal Service training. The RCN and SWA, in particular, give training and valuable insight into numerous aspects of sexual assaults and domestic abuse. Their input has also informed the guidance in relation to domestic abuse and dealing with victims of sexual offences, including rape, that is circulated and available to all prosecutors.

The Scottish Executive takes a positive and proactive approach to human rights. Public bodies in Scotland also have a duty to comply with their obligations under the Human Rights Act. Whilst the primary responsibility remains with public bodies themselves, we are taking steps to support them in understanding and implementing those duties.We have already provided general guidance to Scottish public bodies. We intend to issue additional guidance during the course of the next year and are also seeking to re-establish and further develop the human rights forum for public bodies which was previously run by COSLA.Information on the specific issue raised is not held centrally.

The information available is shown in the following table.

Persons With a Charge Proved Where Main Crime Was Rape, 1996 to 2000
Year	Total number	Number with 1 or more previous convictions1	% with 1 or more previous convictions
1996	33	22	67
1997	29	16	48
1998	37	25	76
1999	27	14	42
2000	27	18	55

Notes:1. Convictions in Scottish Courts since 1989 for all crimes within groups 1-5 of the Scottish Executive Justice Department's classification of crimes and offences and the common law offences of simple assault and breach of the peace.