Rapes in Scotland at their highest level on record

Justice Secretary Angela Constance insisted the Scottish Government was "taking robust action to tackle sexual offending" but the Scottish Tories the SNP should be “ashamed of their record on crime.”

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Overall, crimes recorded by the police in Scotland increased by 1 per cent, from 286,464 to 289,352. 

One of the biggest drops this year came from crimes recorded under Coronavirus related legislation, which fell from 3,913 to zero. 

All legal Coronavirus restrictions in Scotland were lifted in April 2022

When this was accounted for in the overall figures all other crimes collectively increased by 2%.

The national rate of total recorded crime was 528 crimes per 10,000 people in 2022-23, up from 523 per 10,000 in 2021-22.

Dundee had the highest crime rate, at 849 per 10,000, while Glasgow was on 789, Aberdeen on 651 and Edinburgh on 611.

Non-sexual crimes of violence decreased by 1%, from 69,286 to 68,870, with common assault making up 84% of all cases. 

Crimes recorded under the Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2018 accounted for 3% of non-sexual crimes of violence, up from 1,760 to 1,781. 

Of those crimes, 95% involved a female victim and 5% had a male victim.

Crimes of dishonesty increased by 11%, from 92,873 to 103,393. 

The latest figures also include an estimate of cyber crimes, with a suspected 14,890 recorded by the police in Scotland. 

While this is roughly similar to last year’s figure it is up substantially on the pre-pandemic year of 2019-20 when 7,710 cyber-crimes were recorded. 

Cyber crimes account for slightly more than a quarter of all sexual crimes in 2022-23. 

As a whole, sexual crime decreased by 3%, from 15,049 to 14,602, with one of the biggest falls coming in historic crimes. 

The number of sexual assaults committed prior to 1 December 2010 dropped from 203 to 158.

There were falls too in so-called revenge porn threats, with the number of threatening to disclose intimate image offences dropping from 382 to 302. Although the number of actual disclosure of intimate image crimes only dropped from 530 to 503.

Sexual assault against an adult increased from 2,545 crimes to 2,672, while sexual assault against a child aged 13-15 rose from 866 to 889. 

There 720 sexual assault against a child under 13 crimes, down from 867 but up from 396 in 2013. 

On rape, the majority of those attacked were females over 16, accounting for 1,380 of the crimes, up from 1,268 last year and 940 in 2013.

The rape and attempted rape of females under 16 fell from 461 to 451. 

The rape and attempted rape of males over 16 increased from 63 to 71, a substantial jump from 18 in 2013.

Rape and attempted rape of males under 16 rose from 53 to 62. 

Causing to view sexual activity or images accounted for 14% of sexual crimes, though there was a 6% decrease in the most recent year, from 2,223 crimes in 2021-22 to 2,082 in 2022-23.

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Other notable statistics, included threats and extortion, which jumped from 309 in 2013 to 2,008 last year, up from 1,398 in the previous year. 

In 2022-23 the total clear up rate was 53.3%, down from 54.0%.

While crimes against society had a clear up rate of 93.4%, non-sexual crimes of violence were on 67.3% and sexual crime were at 53.4%.

Justice Secretary Angela Constance said the figures show Scotland “continues to be a safe place to live with recorded crime remaining at one of the lowest levels seen since 1974.” 

She added: “These latest figures show reductions in crimes such as violence and damage and reckless behaviour.

“While most people do not experience crime, we recognise the impact caused to those who do. These figures show, while significant progress is being made, there is more we need to do to reduce the harm caused by crime.

“That is why we are taking robust action to tackle sexual offending in particular, while investing £93 million over the past five years to ensure that victims' rights and needs are at the centre of the criminal justice system.

"We also recently launched a violence prevention strategy and are supporting Police Scotland with £1.45 billion investment in 2023-24.

“These continued low levels of crime are testimony to the efforts across policing, justice and community safety partners to deliver a safer Scotland for everyone.”

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Scottish Conservative shadow justice secretary Jamie Greene said it was “unbelievably crass” for the minister to “boast about Scotland’s safety when rapes and attempted rapes as well as crimes under the Domestic Abuse Act are all at their highest level on record.”

He added: “The reality is that, under the SNP’s soft-touch approach to justice, overall crime has risen again. Cases of fraud are at their highest level since the SNP entered government.

“With police numbers still dangerously low and sentencing policies that put criminals’ interests ahead of their victims’, the SNP should be ashamed of their record on crime, rather than complacently congratulating themselves on these dismal figures.”