Domestic abuse across Stirling has risen to its highest level in a decade – spiking by almost 30 per cent since 2014/15.
New figures released by Police Scotland in a report to the Scottish Government reveal that in the Stirling Council area there were 1,015 instances of domestic abuse reported to police in 2023/24.
That’s up from 785 offences committed in 2014/15 – a rise of 29.3 per cent.
In Clackmannanshire, the number rose by less than four per cent over the same period. In 2014/15, 704 reported incidents were made to the police, compared to 732 in 2023/24.
The figures for 2023/24 in Stirling saw recorded incidents spike by almost 13 per cent on the previous year. The figure for 2022/23 was 899.
Of the 1,015 recorded incidents in Stirling in 2023/24, just 39 per cent of those involved a crime or offence being committed. Of the 732 recorded in the Wee County, just 37 per cent included a crime or offence being committed.
Click here for more news and sport from the Stirling area.
The definition of domestic abuse used by Police Scotland is any form of physical, verbal, sexual, psychological or financial abuse which might amount to criminal conduct and which takes place within the context of a relationship.
The number of police recorded across Scotland reached 63,867 in 2023-24, an increase of three per cent compared to the previous year. It marks the first year the figure has shown an increase since 2020-21.
Where police did record incidents nationally, the majority of victims in 2023-24 (83 per cent) were female.
Over four-in-five incidents (81 per cent) of domestic abuse in 2023-24 had a female victim and a male suspect. Seventeen per cent of victims were male.
In 2023-24, 15 per cent of domestic abuse incidents involved a male victim and a female suspect.
In the remaining three per cent of domestic abuse incidents, the victim and suspected perpetrator were the same gender.