Number of men reporting abuse by women doubles in decade:Scottish study

LONDON - A survey has found that the number of men claiming to have been abused by women has more than doubled up in less than a decade.

The latest statistics showed that overall the number of recorded incidents of domestic abuse recorded by police had fallen by 4 percent in 2009-10 to 51,926.

The number of men coming forward to report domestic abuse by a woman increased to 7,938 last year. That compares with 7,361 in 2008-9 and just 2,696 such cases in 2000-1.

Over the decade the proportion of all recorded domestic abuse incidents involving a male victim and a female perpetrator has increased from 8 percent to 15 percent.

Communities minister Alex Neil said he was pleased that more men were coming forward to report abuse.

“Scotland is leading the way in tackling domestic abuse,” the Scotsman quoted him as saying.

“Our hard-hitting campaigns broke taboos, got the message out that this behaviour is totally unacceptable and created awareness of the wide range of help and support for victims.

“It is encouraging to see that reported domestic abuse incidents are now on the decrease and police forces are cracking down on this despicable behaviour.

“We’re also pleased that more men are finding the courage to come forward and our confidential Men’s Advice Line stands ready to support men experiencing abuse,” he stated.

Labour’s justice spokesman, Richard Baker, said the domestic abuse figures were “still worryingly high”.

And he said the statistics “stand as a yet another reminder that there must be no room for complacency on domestic abuse”.

Baker also hit out at the presumption against sentences of less than three months, saying this measure from the Scottish Government would mean “more perpetrators of this despicable crime skip jail”.

“The extent of domestic abuse in Scotland is still too high,” Liberal Democrat justice spokesman Robert Brown said.

“The damage caused by domestic abuse can be lifelong. I want to see a zero-tolerance approach to domestic abuse for both men and women,” he added. (ANI)