By recognising abuse as a pattern of behaviour, the Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2018 closer matches victims’ accounts of psychological and physical harm over time, according to three small scale research studies from Glasgow Caledonian University, the University of Edinburgh and the Scottish Government.

Responses from 69 domestic abuse victims and witnesses also found most women felt that engaging with the criminal justice system on domestic abuse was ‘the right decision’ to take.

Read the research