CLYDEBANK Women’s Aid has seen a “sharp rise” in the number of women seeking help since new domestic abuse laws were introduced.

It’s been one year since the Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act came into force, which covers a range of coercive and controlling behaviours.

Police Scotland has revealed that across the country, 1,669 offences have been recorded under the new law since its introduction on April 1, 2019.

A total of 1,565 offences involved a female victim, and in 94 per cent of these cases the abuser was male.

But, Clydebank Women’s Aid said the figures don’t accurately reflect the number of victims suffering from domestic abuse.

A spokeswoman told the Post: “Whilst the number of cases is encouraging, this does not accurately reflect the number of women, children and young people experiencing domestic abuse – specifically coercive control.

“This law is not retrospective, meaning past offences cannot be pursued by police.

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“However, we have had a very positive relationship with officers here in West Dunbartonshire who have assured us that despite these limitations, they will still record so-called historical offences with the possibility of pursuing these using different laws.

“As an organisation, we have seen a sharp rise in new referrals from women who have not been in contact with our service previously, the highest proportion of which are self referrals.

“However, there has also been a noticeable increase in referrals from other agencies who have been trained on this law.”

More than 14,000 police officers and staff have also been trained to recognise that domestic abuse is not always violent or physical, but is often psychological.

In West Dunbartonshire, 631 domestic abuse crimes were recorded between October and December in 2019, compared to 462 during the same period in 2018, when the new law wasn’t in force.

The Clydebank Women’s Aid spokeswoman added: “Women are recognising that their experience of coercive control is domestic abuse and that this in not diminished in the absence of physical abuse.

“As a service, we note that it is very rare for physical abuse to take place without coercive control; however, coercive control can, and often does, stand alone.

“Women’s Aid groups have been fighting for years for coercive control to be recognised as domestic abuse and for this to be an offence, and the impact this law has had cannot be understated.

“However, there is still a long way to go before domestic abuse is adequately tackled in Scotland, and specifically West Dunbartonshire.”

For support, you can call 0141 952 8118 or email collective.clydebankwa@gmail.com.