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In 2007/2008, in the the first year of the SNP minority government in Scotland, there were 28 women victims of murder.¹

Last year, there were 15, up two from 13 in the previous two years.²

Yet, today, the Sunday Post has nearly 200 victims on its front page.

What kind of image of Scotland today does that present?

The same one, I suppose that English politicians, some Scottish politicians trying to please them and, of course, most comedians, even today, love to perpetuate.

The murder rate with woman victims is the same in England.

Sources:

1. https://www.gov.scot/publications/statistical-release-crime-justice-series-homicide-scotland-2010-11/pages/5/
2. https://www.gov.scot/publications/homicide-scotland-2024-25/

With other, more numerous forms of violence against women, things are quite different:

In the year-ending June 2025, there were 72 804 cases of rape and attempted rape, 211 225 sexual offences and 797 530 cases of domestic abuse, in England and Wales.¹

In Scotland in the same period, the figures were 2 897, 5 124 and 2 573.^{2, 3}

England & Wales have roughly 11 times the population, so all things being equal you might have expected the figures to have been around 30 000, 55 000 and 30 000. In fact, they were between two and three times higher for rape and assisted rape, four times higher for sexual offences and a staggering 20 to 30 times higher for domestic abuse!

Now there will be differences in reporting which limit direct comparison, I know but they are not enough, given the scale, to do so significantly. Indeed, The Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2009 actually broadened the definition of rape in Scotland (e.g., explicitly including male victims and certain acts), which increased recorded figures there post-2010.⁴

Should this shocking contrast have been the other way, just as with drug deaths, you can be sure ‘our‘ media would not hesitate to have Scotland as the ‘rape capital of Europe’ and so on.

Finally, Labour aims to halve violence against women in England & Wales in 10 years, so the figures, if they manage, would be around 36 000 rapes and attempted rapes, 105 000 sexual offences and 400 000 cases of domestic abuse – in each case still higher pro rata than in Scotland!

Sources:

1. https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/bulletins/crimeinenglandandwales/yearendingjune2025#sexual-offences
2. https://www.gov.scot/publications/recorded-crime-scotland-2024-25/pages/sexual-crimes/
3. https://www.gov.scot/publications/recorded-crime-scotland-2024-25/pages/non-sexual-crimes-of-violence/
4. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-41399257

Note – some (10-15%?) sexual offences and cases of domestic abuse are against men.

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