Fears have been raised that a “tsunami” of domestic abuse cases are going undetected across Fife during lockdown.
Recorded crimes involving domestic abuse in the kingdom increased by 2.7% from April to December last year – 73 more than the same period the previous year.
Reports have ‘escalated’
SNP councillor Sharon Green-Wilson said she fears a potential “tsunami” of cases once lockdown measures ease.
“My understanding is that at the beginning of the pandemic the reports of domestic abuse actually went down, but as the pandemic has continued, those reports have escalated,” she said.
“I would expect there to be a tsunami of reports of domestic abuse.”
Fife police chief updates councillors
But police say the increase may mean domestic abuse victims are seeking support, leading to more crimes being reported and recorded cases increasing.
Speaking to Fife Council’s environment and protective services sub-committee, Chief Superintendent Derek McEwan of Police Scotland’s Fife Division, said officers are prepared for a potential increase in cases.
“We always know there is unreported crime, domestic and sexual, but we would probably say we are actually at the same level as we were before,” said Mr McEwan.
“When we went through the pandemic I had a genuine fear that our domestic abuse reports were going to drop significantly.
“It doesn’t give me comfort because sadly individuals are being abused but we are still getting the reporting levels that we had pre-coronavirus.
“What we can’t ignore is that people in abusive relationships have been spending probably far more time in each others’ company, far more time behind a closed door and far more time in a tense situation as we went through various lockdowns.”
Domestic abuse unit ‘bolstered’
The figures are in contrast to a report by Fife Violence Against Women Partnership (FVAWP) published earlier this month.
The charity’s annual review said Fife Women’s Aid has seen its waiting list rocket by 77% during the pandemic, while Shakti Women’s Aid – which helps black minority ethnic women and children – reported a 75% rise in referrals.
Domestic abuse: Number of Fife women fleeing violence soars during lockdown
Mr McEwan added: “We have bolstered our public protection unit, our domestic abuse unit, our child protection unit, in order to try and deal with reports that come in and ultimately to try and have more officers available to get in there and support them.”
Mr McEwan said the aim was to intervene without putting victims at “more risk than they’re already experiencing”.
If you take covid out of the equation, some of our domestic abuse figures are on a par with previous years.”
Chief Superintendent Derek McEwan
He added: “It’s difficult to try to quantify how much unreported crime could come to us because we’re in such a strange year.
“If you take Covid-19 out of the equation, some of our domestic abuse figures are on a par with previous years.”