Current status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 11 November 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what mechanisms are in place to monitor any post-separation abuse of victims who have left a coercive and abusive relationship.
Where individuals have left a coercive and abusive relationship, it is important that protections for their safety are available where needed. As such, there are a range of protective orders available to help ensure the safety of individuals.
Where a partner or ex-partner has been convicted of a domestic abuse criminal offence against their partner or ex-partner, when dealing with the offender the court is required to consider whether to impose a non-harassment order (NHO). If a NHO is not imposed, the court must explain the reasons why. The NHO can have a range of conditions included within it such as refraining from contacting the person against whom the offence has been committed. NHOs are also available for a wider range of offences upon application by the prosecutor. Changes made in the recently passed Victims, Witnesses, and Justice Reform (Scotland) Act 2025 will, when brought into force, require the court to consider NHOs upon conviction in sexual offence, stalking and intimate images cases.
In addition, a person can take action through the courts to protect themselves against abuse and harassment, and there are a number of civil court orders available. These include an interdict, which is a court order prohibiting someone from doing something. It can cover things such as contacting a particular person or coming within a certain distance of their home. In some cases, breach of an interdict is an offence. A civil NHO can prohibit conduct which causes alarm or distress and again breach is a criminal offence. An exclusion order can provide protection to a spouse or a civil partner (and, in certain circumstances, a cohabitant) where they or a child of the family is at risk of physical or mental injury because of the conduct of the other spouse, civil partner (or cohabitant). The order suspends an individual's rights to occupy the family home, and will come to an end if the court divorce or their civil partnership is dissolved.
Some data on the use of these various orders is available. Under the Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2018 and the requirement for the court to always consider imposition of an NHO following conviction for a domestic abuse offence came into force in April 2019, there has been a near quadrupling of the proportion of cases in which NHOs are made (from 10.8% of cases in 2018-19 to 41.8% of cases in 2024-25).
Separately from the availability of protective orders, the Caledonian System is an integrated approach to address the safety of women and children and to improve the lives of women, children and men. The system comprises of a programme for men who have been convicted of domestic abuse related offences with integrated support services for women and children. The men's programme is two years in duration, with a focus on helping men be accountable for their abusive behaviour and reduce the risk of continuing to be abusive. For 2025-26, the total ring-fenced budget allocation to 23 local authorities who operate the Caledonian System was £4,467,666.
These measures are intended to help protect victims of domestic abuse from further offending behaviour.