Question reference: S6W-03285
- Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
- Date lodged: 24 September 2021
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Current status: Answered by Keith Brown on 8 October 2021
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the reported comments by the Chief Executive of Women’s Aid that women who have experienced domestic or sexual abuse may be deterred from reporting it because of court delays and that “there is no safety for them in calling the police or in asking for help from the public sector."
Answer
The Scottish Government advises anyone who has experienced domestic abuse or sexual violence to report crimes committed against them, regardless of the impacts of Covid-19. Police Scotland remain committed to proactively target perpetrators and protect victims and their families from domestic abuse or further harm.
Domestic abuse cases continue to feature in the court programme as a key priority, with a view to mitigating the impact of the pandemic on timescales for these types of cases. £50m of Scottish Government Covid recovery funding was allocated this year and the recruitment and training of extra justice staff has enabled additional court capacity recently. This will support the process for reducing the backlog in criminal cases through the collaborative Recovery programme.
The Scottish Government meets regularly with Scottish Women’s Aid to discuss their concerns, and to outline the approach being taken to addressing the impact of the pandemic on all court cases. We understand the pandemic has extended waiting lists for support and have allocated £4.5 million split between Scottish Women’s Aid and Rape Crisis Scotland to address this issue.