A campaigner against domestic abuse and violence has met senior Tayside police officers to see how forces in Scotland are tackling the issue.
Eve Thomas, 44, from Bolton, escaped a long-term abusive relationship and has now compiled a book of victims’ stories of their experiences.
She was invited to Police Scotland’s Tayside headquarters by Chief Inspector Conrad Trickett, the policing area commander for Dundee North.
Ms Thomas said: “Conrad read the story on my website and said that the ‘cocoon of safety’ I describe is something Police Scotland strive for in all domestic abuse cases.
“There are a lot of different aspects to the way Scotland deal with it than in England and I think we can learn from each other for a more consistent service for victims of domestic abuse.
“From what I have learned up to now, I think the victims are protected quite well here.”
The former social worker and psychiatric nurse escaped her abusive marriage and gave evidence against her husband at a trial. He was found guilty of battery and issued with a restraining order.
Ms Thomas said: “We have found that, in both England and Scotland, the time that it takes from the victim making a complaint to it going to court is too long.
“It is a very scary time and if someone has been in an abusive relationship and has escaped, they need a lot of reassurance and support.”
The book, 50 Shades of Abuse by One Voice, is a collection of true stories penned by victims and survivors of domestic violence.
Ms Thomas said each story had been left unedited to convey the “raw feelings and pain” of the contributor.
She said: “I had been writing in secret for seven years. My former husband found it and set fire to it and would tell me I was rubbish and I couldn’t do anything well.
“I spent a year finding myself again. This book is 50 voices all coming together to raise awareness.
“Another victim of domestic violence asked me to read her story and I realised then that this was a way for victims and survivors to reach out to the world and help each other deal with this appalling and life-destroying behaviour.”
Around 40 charities from across the world will benefit from the profits raised by the book.
Mr Trickett said: “There has always been a strong focus on tackling domestic abuse but with a single Scottish force, the focus has been one of the national priorities.
“There have been a few changes of processes in the Tayside area on our focus on domestic abuse and how to get the message out there, both to support victims coming forward and also to let offenders know we will tackle them any which way we can.
“Eve’s visit has fitted in nicely with the awareness-raising side of this. We want to raise the profile against domestic abuse and Eve was keen to see the differences in the system between Scotland and in England and Wales.
“To use Eve’s phraseology, the whole point of the police is to create a ‘cocoon of safety’ around the victim and that will be done as soon as uniformed officers arrive.”