Almost 20,000 domestic abuse disclosures given since scheme launched 10

Since Police Scotland launched a scheme ten years ago to help tackle domestic abuse, more than 19,500 disclosures have been given to tell people their partner has an abusive past.

The Disclosure Scheme for Domestic Abuse Scotland (DSDAS) was launched on 1 October 2015 with the aim of enabling anyone with concerns about the history of their partner, or the partner of someone they know, to apply for a disclosure.

Since its introduction 35,847 applications have been submitted to the scheme and 19,867 disclosures (55%) have been given.

Detective Superintendent Adam Brown explains: “DSDAS is an important preventative tool in tackling domestic abuse.

“Before the DSDAS scheme, there was no formal way of an individual finding out if their partner had a previous history of abusive behaviour. An