Scotland’s “sexist and biased” domestic abuse services are to be overhauled amid complaints that men are unfairly stigmatised as violent perpetrators and dismissed when they are the victims.
The Scottish government is developing a “national strategy on ending intimate and sexual violence against men and boys”, who are the casualties in a fifth of all domestic abuse cases.
The government stressed that the largest share of funding would still go to women’s services, as they are the victims in the majority of cases, but admitted male support had been relatively underfunded.
The Scottish parliament’s citizen participation and public petitions committee has urged ministers to press on with the strategy after a petition from a male victim who found the system “sexist, biased and stigmatising”.
William Wright took issue with government claims that domestic violence was linked to “male privilege”, insisting men generally have poorer health and wellbeing than women.
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Men account for about three quarters of suicides, homicides and drugs deaths in Scotland.
Wright said: “The Scottish government ‘gender-based crime’ narrative for domestic abuse is labelling innocent men: harming them, hurting them, destroying them, and their families too.
“From experience, the data being captured by police and the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service on domestic abuse and gender differences is not accurate, does not reflect the reality, and cases are being manipulated by these services to support the Scottish government’s biased and discriminatory narrative that domestic abuse is a ‘gender-based crime’.”
He said it was dangerous to teach future generations of children that domestic abuse was a gender-based crime in Scotland because it put boys and men at risk and disadvantage.
Wright added: “The narrative enables female abusers to make false and malicious allegations about men, and police continue to fail to hold these abusers accountable for their malice.
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“The gender-based narrative does not empower women; it empowers female abusers. This does not represent equality. Equality is acknowledging that this crime can happen to ‘anyone’.”
The committee decided not to proceed with Wright’s petition after an assurance by Christina McKelvie, Scotland’s equalities minister, that a review of domestic abuse against men and boys was under way. She said: “The development of this strategy is ongoing. When developing any strategy, it is a priority for the Scottish government to involve key stakeholders in the process through active engagement.
“This ensures that the Scottish government is drawing on and collaborating with the opinions of trusted voices that help to inform and shape successful strategies.
“I would like to thank the petitioner for their interest in the work and reiterate that, while it is absolutely clear that women are by far most impacted by domestic abuse and sexual violence, we take the issue of intimate partner violence seriously regardless of the gender of the victim, or of the perpetrator.”
In a submission to the committee, Police Scotland said that domestic abuse was predominantly perpetrated by men against women. It said: “In 2021-22, 81 per cent of all record domestic incidents featured a male perpetrator and a female victim.
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It added: “It is acknowledged that domestic abuse is still underreported across all of society . . . officers are reminded that the definition of domestic abuse encompasses and entire spectrum of abuse which includes the abuse of male victims by female perpetrators.”
