In light of the Women's Aid report, The Domestic Abuse Report 2019, when it last considered how to ensure there is the best possible protec…

Preventing and eradicating all forms of violence against women and girls, including domestic abuse and forced marriage, is a priority for the Scottish Government. We are working collaboratively with COSLA and key partners to implement Equally Safe, our strategy in this area.
We are committed to ensuring that women and children who have experienced domestic abuse have access to support. Through our Equally Safe Fund, we’re investing £5.6m in initiatives which include front line services for women and children, and we are continuing to fund the National Domestic Abuse and Forced Marriage Helpline. As part of the commencement of the Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2018, which created a “course of conduct” offence for the first time – enabling physical, psychological and controlling behaviour to be prosecuted at once, we have invested in a significant programme of capacity building in partnership with Police Scotland. We have also worked closely with justice partners and third sector services to ensure readiness for implementation of the new offence and the ability to respond effectively to the needs of survivors. We are working closely with key partners through our Forced Marriage Network to identify further work in this area, and have committed to refreshing statutory guidance previously issued under the Forced Marriage (Scotland) Act 2011.