Domestic abuse is an incident or pattern of incidents perpetrated (in the majority of cases) by a partner or ex-partner. It may also be perpetrated by a close family member or carer. Domestic abuse covers a wide variety of behaviour, including controlling, coercive, threatening, degrading and violent behaviour. It may include physical and sexual violence, psychological abuse, emotional harm, neglect, discriminatory abuse, and financial harm - or a combination of all of these. The resources in this section relate to the overlap between domestic abuse and Adult Support and Protection in Scotland.
These are the slides from a 5 Nations webinar held in December 2024. This series of webinars shares adult support and protection / safeguarding knowledge across the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales.
The theme of this webinar is coercive and controlling behaviour with a particular focus on older people's relationships. The sessions are:
These are the slides from a 5 Nations webinar held in September 2025. This series of webinars shares adult support and protection / safeguarding knowledge across the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales.
The theme of this webinar is coercive control. The sessions are:
This Self-Assessment Tool and Evaluation Framework takes a reflective look at key areas of policy and practice in Scotland from a domestic abuse-informed perspective. The tools can be used to engage key staff in a reflective process, viewing their own system through a domestic abuse-informed lens.
Domestic abuse in families often intersects with the substance abuse and/or mental health issues of one or more family members. The intersection of these issues is complex and diverse and spans case management, service delivery, and safety issues.
This guide offers a framework for:
Improving the assessment of how these issues intersect
This guide is a resource to assist family and friends in being an ally to survivors of domestic abuse. A positive first experience talking about the abuse can make the difference between safety and increased isolation and entrapment for a loved one.
Domestic violence perpetrator manipulation of systems is a critical problem that undermines responses to family violence and deeply impacts adult and child survivors in many ways. Perpetrators manipulate systems to bolster their own power and abuse and to control adult and child survivors further.
This report outlines the types of systems perpetrators may manipulate, how they may do this, and ways in which this behaviour can be addressed.
These resources are for men who are worried about their behavior toward their loved ones. The Choose to Change Toolkit describes a four-step process to assist men in developing strong, safe support networks to help them interrupt their violence and increase safety for other family members. It includes a professionals booklet, information for partners, and information for network contacts.
This downloadable six-page leaflet is in Easy Read format and sets out what domestic abuse is. It is for anyone experiencing domestic abuse, or who is worried about someone else. The leaflet also sets out many different ways in which people can get help around domestic abuse.
This pack contains core resources, for instance on professional curiosity, that inform all ASP work. It also contains domestic abuse specific resources. Within the pack, there are links to numerous videos, including to those of people with lived experience of domestic abuse.
This webinar looks at two specific areas. For the first two sections, Anne Hayne considers the overlaps and gaps in Adult Support and Protection and domestic abuse provision. In the final section, Frances Toland shares Renfrewshire's trauma-informed approach to ASP. There is also an accompanying briefing about the Renfrewshire approach.
