Domestic abuse: statistics recorded by the police in Scotland, 2024-25

Characteristics of domestic abuse incidents

Note: Current partner is defined here as spouse/civil partner, partner and co-habitee. Ex-partner is defined as ex-spouse/civil partner and ex-partner.

Gender of victim and suspected perpetrator

Where information was known on the victim, the clear majority in 2024-25 (83%) were female. Over four-in-five incidents (81%) of domestic abuse in 2024-25 had a female victim and a male suspected perpetrator. This has remained unchanged since 2021-22.

Again, where known, 17% of victims in 2024-25 were male. Just under one-in-six (16%) of domestic abuse incidents involved a male victim and a female suspected perpetrator. This increased slightly from 15% in 2023-24.

In the remaining 4% of domestic abuse incidents, the victim and suspected perpetrator were either both male or both female. This figure has remained relatively stable over several years (Figure 5 & Table 5).

Over 4 in 5 incidents of domestic abuse, where information was known, had a female victim and male suspected perpetrator.

Figure 5: Gender of victim & suspected pepretrator, where known, 2015-16 to 2024-25

Note: The figure only displays incidents where gender of victim and suspected perpetrator is known. See Annex 2 for more details on missing data.

Relationship between victim & suspected perpetrator

In 2024-25 half (50%) of domestic abuse incidents, where the relationship between the victim and suspected perpetrator was known, were between partners. Just under half (49%) of incidents were between ex-partners. For the remaining 1% of incidents, the relationship was categorised as ‘Other’ (Table 6). Current partner is defined here as spouse/civil partner, partner and co-habitee. Ex-partner is defined as ex-spouse/civil partner and ex-partner.

It should be noted that the proportion of incidents where the relationship between the victim and suspected perpetrator was unknown has increased to 21% in 2024-25. This is due to changes in recording practice in Police Scotland, for which further information is available in Annex 2.

Age of victim & suspected perpetrator

In 2024-25, the 31 to 35 year old age group had the highest rate per 10,000 population for victims (249 incidents recorded per 10,000 population) (Table 7).

Female victims aged 31 to 35 had the highest rate (407) of domestic abuse incidents recorded by the police per 10,000 population. Whereas male victims aged 36-40 had the highest rate (83) of domestic abuse incidents recorded per 10,000 population. (Figure 6 & Table 7).

In 2024-25, the 31 to 35 years old age group had the highest incident rate per 10,000 population for suspected perpetrators (227 incidents recorded per 10,000 population) (Table 8).

Male suspected perpetrators aged 31-35 had the highest rate (388) of domestic abuse incidents recorded by the police per 10,000 population, whereas the highest rate for female suspected perpetrators was those aged 36-40 (79). (Figure 6 & Table 8).

Individuals aged 31-35 had the highest rate per 10,000 population for victims and suspected perpetrators, where information was known.

Figure 6: Age and gender of victim & suspected perpetrator, where known, 2024-25

Note: The The figure only displays incidents where gender of victim and suspected perpetrator is known. See Annex 2 for more details on missing data.

Note: Population estimates are at mid-year 2024 published by the National Records of Scotland.

Victim & supsected perpetrator repeat analysis

The iVPD enables the identification of a victim or suspected perpetrator that has previously been entered into the system for domestic abuse. A victim or suspected perpetrator can appear multiple times in the database in any one year, each classified as a separate incident.

As the iVPD was introduced and rolled out across the then 14 police divisions during 2013-14, the first and any subsequent reference to any victim or suspected perpetrator in the repeat categories below only refers to whether they were involved in an incident of domestic abuse from 2013-14 (part year depending on divisional roll out) and not in any years prior to the introduction of the iVPD. Each police division rolled out the iVPD at different times throughout 2013-14.

In 2024-25 there were 46,207 domestic abuse incidents with sufficient information recorded to allow allow repeat analysis (71% of all incidents). The remaining 18,760 incidents (or 29%) did not include sufficient information to confirm one way or the other whether at least one of either the victim or suspected perpetrator had previously been recorded in an incident of domestic abuse. Proportion calculated excluding incidents where information on previous history on iVPD is fully or partially not recorded.

For those incidents that did include sufficient information, 73% (or 33,544) had a victim and suspected perpetrator who had previously been recorded in an incident of domestic abuse – though these previously recorded incidents may have involved different partners/ex-partners. In a further 15% (7,046) of incidents, neither the victim nor the suspected perpetrator were found in the iVPD. In 12% (5,617) of incidents there was a mix of results for the victim and suspected perpetrator (i.e. only one of the victim or suspected perpetrator had previously been recorded) (Figure 7 & Table 9).

Almost three-quarters of domestic abuse incidents in 2024-25 involved a victim and suspected perpetrator who had previously been recorded in a domestic abuse incident.

Figure 7: Incidents of domestic abuse recorded by the police, by repeat victim/suspected perpetrator analysis, where known, 2024-25

Location of incidents

In 2024-25, around nine-in-ten (89%) domestic abuse incidents occurred in a home or dwelling. This is down slightly compared to 2023-24 (90%). This figure can be split into 35% of incidents that occurred within the victim’s own home, 10% that occurred within a joint home and 5% that occurred in the suspected perpetrator’s home. 40% of incidents occurred in an ‘other dwelling’, see Annex 2 for further detail.

The remaining 11% of incidents occurred in the street (5%), licensed premises (1%) or an ‘Other’ location (5%) (Figure 8 & Table 10).

Around 9 out of 10 incidents occurred in a home or dwelling, where location was known.

Figure 8: Incidents of domestic abuse recorded by the police, by location, where known, 2024-25