Improving Protections in the Justice System for Women and Girls
Together with the mums we support, Aberlour responded to the Scottish Government's consultation on improving protections for women and girls in the justice system. Vast improvements are still needed to ensure every woman and child in Scotland can access justice, safety and recovery from violence and abuse.
Our response draws on real experiences shared by the mothers and families we work with every day, alongside our frontline staff's knowledge. Below are five of the key areas we focused on.
Non-fatal strangulation
Non-fatal strangulation is commonly used as a tactic of domestic abuse. It can leave deep and lasting psychological harm that persists long after physical injuries have healed, and it is becoming more normalised through the easy availability of violent pornography.
"I experienced strangulation 7 years ago but my partner wasn't charged. He went on to abuse another woman which resulted in me being asked to relive my past and give police more information. 7 years is a long time to have to relive the past and get justice."
- Woman supported by Aberlour
Our call: Victims must be supported to disclose, and cases understood as a serious and dangerous form of abuse. Where strangulation happens within a domestic abuse relationship, it should be captured as a course of conduct behaviour under the Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2018, not minimised as an isolated incident.
Spiking
Aberlour is concerned about the prevalence of spiking within abusive relationships, and the challenges women face recognising and reporting it when it happens.
"In a bar environment you have staff and cameras and witnesses who can say they were fine one moment and not the next. But when it was me, you just have yourself and your doubts. How do you take that to the police?"
- Woman supported by Aberlour
Our call: We're urging the Scottish Government to raise public awareness of spiking in intimate relationships, provide trauma-informed support for victims, and ensure the laws and justice system around this issue are robust.
Offences against pregnant women
Coercive control and domestic abuse often begin or escalate during pregnancy, yet current law does not sufficiently reflect the risk and harm to pregnant women and babies.
"The charges are being minimised. If a pregnant woman is pushed downstairs, as I was, we could lose our child. That's attempted murder, not a breach of the peace. I know firsthand what it does to you emotionally and mentally, and you don't just come back from it."
- Woman supported by Aberlour
Our call: We support requiring courts to treat pregnancy as a formal aggravating factor when sentencing domestic abuse offences, including the broader impact of verbal, emotional and psychological abuse experienced by many pregnant women.
Non-harassment orders
The current system around non-harassment orders (NHOs) is incoherent. It is failing to keep women and children safe due to inconsistent application and a lack of consequences when orders are breached.
"The system says if you don't leave an abusive relationship then they will take your kids. But if you leave, they give the abuser room to abuse you more."-
- Woman supported by Aberlour
Our call: The Scottish Government must address the serious shortcomings of the existing NHO system and restore confidence in it before any further changes take place.
Online and tech-facilitated harm
Digital abuse of women is rising fast. Perpetrators of domestic abuse often use multiple and creative digital methods to stalk, monitor, harass, threaten, humiliate and control women and children.
"I experienced digital stalking and harassment from my ex-partner, who took control of my accounts and threatened revenge porn. I wish I was supported through education about these types of abuse. The onus was on me to report crimes and detail them without knowing what I was experiencing at the time."
- Woman supported by Aberlour
Our call: Alongside more resourcing and better education, we believe the Scottish Government's strongest lever is introducing regulatory duties on tech platforms themselves, in line with Equally Safe, to ensure human rights are upheld in Scotland.
Read our full response
These five areas are only part of a wider response covering everything from prosecutorial powers over non-harassment orders to intimate image abuse and children's rights within the justice system. Our full submission reflects the direct experiences and views of mothers supported by Aberlour's domestic abuse services, and the frontline staff working alongside them.