The 2015 Sexual Offences Conference, hosted by Crown Agent Catherine Dyer, brought together experts working in the field to hear opinions and insights from national organisations such as Police Scotland, Rape Crisis Scotland and the NHS.

Confidence in reporting sexual crime

Speaking for Police Scotland, assistant chief constable Malcolm Graham said: 'People are much more confident about reporting sexual crime in the knowledge it will be investigated. However, the nature of the crimes being reported and the subsequent investigations is changing. Online offending is an increasing concern, whether it is domestic abuse related incidents or child abuse including child sexual exploitation. And we are dealing with a significant increase in non-recent sexual offending. These are complex crimes often involving very vulnerable people, and investigations can be difficult because of the nature of the crimes – but we are committed to investigating every report we receive.’ Sources: Crown Office; Scottish Legal