Rape report increase should be ‘Scotland’s biggest source of shame’ – charity

An 11% increase in the number of rape and attempted rape reports should be “Scotland’s biggest source of shame”, a leading charity has said.

Statistics released by the Scottish Government on Tuesday show 3,043 reports of such offences in the year up to September, an increase from 2,746 the previous year.

Since the same period in 2021, the number of rape or attempted rape reports has increased by 25%, the figures showed.

In the past year, reports of sexual crimes have increased by 7%, including a 24% rise in offences including indecent photos of children.

Responding to the figures, Rape Crisis Scotland chief executive Sandy Brindley said the country must do more to “stop rape before it happens”.

“It should be Scotland’s biggest source of shame that we continue to see unprecedented levels of sexual violence against women and girls,” she said.

“Despite many other types of crime being in decline, reports of rape continue to rise at an alarming rate. We know that many survivors choose not to report what has happened to them, so the real number is likely much higher.

“There are also other causes for alarm, like a sharp rise in incidents of so-called revenge porn over the past year.

“Scotland must do more to stop rape before it happens. We have seen an increasing number of young women and girls reporting sexual harassment and even sexual assault at school.”

She added: “Prevention work in Scotland is desperately under-resourced, yet it is the first and often only line of defence in stopping this behaviour in its tracks.”

Justice Secretary Angela Constance said: “I recognise that multiple factors will lie behind increases in sexual crime.

“Our action to tackle sexual offending includes increasing confidence in the justice system so more victims come forward, improving support for victims, and investing a record £1.64 billion for policing this year.

“We are committed to implementing Equally Safe – Scotland’s strategy for preventing and eradicating violence against women and girls.

“This includes work to prevent violence from occurring in the first place, to build the capacity of support services, and to strengthen the justice response to victims and perpetrators.”

Scottish Lib Dem deputy leader – and former police officer – Wendy Chamberlain said Scotland “still has mountains to move to tackle violence against women and girls”.

“The increase in sex crime may be partly down to more reporting, which is only to be welcomed, but it still points to a very worrying trend,” she said.

The Scottish Government’s decision to drop plans for a standalone misogyny offence earlier this year meant they “threw away a real chance”, Ms Chamberlain added.

Crimes of dishonesty – such as theft and fraud – saw a small increase in the past year, but a jump of more than 26% since 2021 – fuelled by a massive 129% increase in shoplifting in the past four years.

The figure increased from 21,175 to 48,564 in that time.

Violent crime has jumped by 3% in the past year and 14% since 2021, driven by a rise of 22%  in domestic violence reports since 2024 and 64% since 2021.

Drug supply offences rose sharply by 15% in the past year, from 4,392 to 5,041, while those for possession increased by 2% in the last year, but overall dropped by 26% since 2021.

The Justice Secretary added that Scotland “continues to be a safe place to live, with recorded crime falling by half since 1991”.

She continued: “Violent crime is down significantly over the past 20 years, with serious assaults and homicide levels at near record lows.

“However, I am concerned about rises particularly in violent and sexual offences. We have been consistently clear that any instance of violence, is one too many.

“That is why we are taking a wide range of actions to prevent and reduce violence, with more than £6 million in funding invested over the past three years.

“Our action to tackle sexual offending includes increasing confidence in the justice system so more victims come forward and improving support for victims.

“This year we will invest £4.2 billion across the justice system, including a record £1.64 billion for policing – an increase of £90 million on 2024-25.

“These figures also come on the back of the flagship Scottish Crime and Justice Survey carried out earlier this year, which showed people feel safer in their communities.”

Scottish Tory justice spokesman Liam Kerr described the figures as “deeply alarming” and urged the Justice Secretary to “ditch her weak justice agenda”.

“Scots will be concerned that there has been such a sharp rise in the number of rapes and sexual offences in the last year, with domestic abuse cases soaring too,” he said.

“The SNP’s under-25 sentencing guidelines and the escalating use of diversion from prosecution means some rapists are not being properly punished.

“This crimewave across Scotland, including many violent crimes, comes against a backdrop of the SNP allowing officer numbers to drop to woefully low levels and officers being unable to investigate every crime.”

Scottish Labour’s justice spokeswoman, Pauline McNeill, described the statistics as “deeply worrying”, adding: “Police Scotland is stretched to breaking point and the public’s confidence in the police to keep their communities safe is falling.

“This only makes Scots feel less safe in their own communities.

“On top of this, our prisons estate is overcrowded, and the SNP’s only answer to this is to take a sticking plaster to the crisis by releasing even more prisoners onto our streets.”