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New film made by refugee men calls for violence against women to stop

New survey shows high levels of sexual violence in Scotland

A new survey released by the Scottish Government found that one in ten women in Scotland have experienced rape & one in five women in Scotland have had someone try to make them have sex against their will.

The survey also found that 2% of men had experienced rape.

The ScotCen survey interviewed 516 men and 760 women aged between 16 and 74.

Sandy Brindley, National Coordinator for Rape Crisis Scotland, said:

"This survey confirms that sexual violence is far more common that people realise. Rape is a crime which can have a devastating impact, and many survivors never tell anyone what has happened, never mind report it to the police.

We need to prioritise prevention, working with the Scottish public to ensure people know that the law is clear - sex without consent is rape, and can have very serious consequences for both the victim and the perpetrator."

Recorded crime falls - but reported rape increases yet again

Between April 1 2014 and March 31 2015, there was a 4.7 per cent decrease in crime recorded across all categories.

Reported rape, however, increased by more than 5%. Domestic abuse reports increased by 1.8%.

Rape Crisis Scotland spokeswoman Sandy Brindley said:
"It is always difficult to say with any certainty whether increased reporting of rape means that more rapes are occurring, or whether it reflects increased confidence in the police. We know that rape is a particularly under reported crime. Police Scotland have taken significant steps to ensure people have confidence in the response they receive if they report a sexual offence, and these figures suggest that this is having a positive impact. No matter when a rape happened, someone should feel confident in approaching the police to speak about their experience."

The figures are contained in management information which is published online today.

Deputy Chief Constable Iain Livingstone, Crime and Operational Support, said: “Over the past two years, we have significantly enhanced our whole approach to investigating the most serious of crimes including murder, rape and domestic abuse.

“Through the introduction of Major Investigation Teams, Rape and Domestic Abuse Taskforces and divisional investigation units, we have seen national specialist support being provided to local policing teams to ensure our response is as effective and responsive as possible."

The number of domestic abuse incidents reported during 2014/2015 increased by 1.8 per cent to total 59,471. One or more crimes were recorded in 57 per cent of all domestic incidents.

Sexual crime recorded by Police Scotland increased by 9.3 per cent. There were 1797 rapes recorded during the 12 month period, an increase of 91 compared to 2013/2014. Nearly 40 per cent of those reports were historic.

Sexual Violence Prevention Project Evaluation

Rape Crisis Scotland has published the evaluation into its Sexual Violence Prevention Project, which works with young people across Scotland on issues relating to sexual violence, consent and healthy relationships. Key findings include:

• The project increased knowledge about what the law says sexual violence is – 53% of young people agreed they knew what they law said prior to attending the workshops. This increased to 89% after attending.
• Attitudes also changed significantly, with the data suggesting that the workshop sessions were successful in raising young people’s awareness of sexual violence, the importance of equality and consent in healthy relationships, and that the responsibility for sexual violence lies with perpetrators rather than victims.
• 94% of young people think it is important that they have education on these issues
• Young people overwhelmingly agreed that adults were right to be concerned about young people and relationships
• Teachers are concerned about early sexualisation, abusive relationships and bullying on social media

A copy of the evaluation can be found here and a summary of key findings here.