A Perthshire mum who suffered three miscarriages at the hands of violent ex-partners will see her proposed new law to protect abused pregnant women debated in parliament in September.
The brainchild of Nicola Murray (44) ‘Brodie’s Law’ will go to the next phase after it was given the support by members of the Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee in February.
Nicola gave further evidence to the committee on June 29, saying in her opening statement that the justice system “unfortunately, fails on many levels when it comes to domestic violence”.
The Stanley native suffered three tragic miscarriages as a result of abuse, leading to the creation of women’s support group Brodie’s Trust.
Then Nicola set up a petition last year to introduce an Unborn Victims of Violence Act – or Brodie’s Law – to create a specific offence to “enable the judiciary to adequately prosecute perpetrators”.
It comes after an FOI request from her revealed that Police Scotland had received more than 7000 reports of domestic abuse in the past five years where pregnant women were involved.
Now she is fighting for the pregnancy of the victim to be treated by law as an aggravating factor, leading to tougher sentences.
Nicola was just six weeks pregnant when she miscarried in 2013 after her abusive ex knocked her over with his car in a fit of rage.
Four years after her first miscarriage, Nicola lost a second child after she was allegedly attacked by a new partner.
This time, Nicola knew she was having a boy and marked the loss of her son by naming him Brodie – who the law is named after. Nicola’s work with countless women in similar situations, via Brodie’s Trust, propelled her to petition the Scottish Parliament in 2021 to campaign for improvements in the law.
“I gave evidence on June 29 supported by my mum – it was quite an emotional day for us,” she said.
“The roundtable was supposed to be held the same day but due to some of the stakeholders’ other commitments, it’s to be in September after the parliamentary recess.
“It will be the Citizen Participation and Public Petition Committee again who organises this.
“I’m aware that Dr Mary Ford Neal (whose evidence on this for the 2018 domestic abuse bill was ignored), Victim Support and Women’s Aid are just some of those who will be involved.
“I was really happy to see Dr Neal involved, her research was superb and one of her students, Ryan McAdam, has also made a submission.”
Giving evidence that day, she said: “It is very important that Scotland, as a nation, can lead the way on that [domestic violence].
“We already have it in a way, with the Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2018, which is brilliant in many ways, but there are aspects to it that could use tightening up.”
Nicola suggested that her proposal could even become an amendment to this act, rather than become a stand-alone bill, if more feasible. She added: “When you go to the police, it is a lottery as to whether they will be knowledgeable about domestic violence, whether they will take the matter as seriously as it deserves to be taken or whether they will try to dissuade you from reporting it.”
She concluded: “We need to do whatever we can, whether it is through a member’s bill, an amendment or an
act.”
If passed, Brodie’s Law will create an offence of “contributing or attempting to contribute, through violence, abusive behaviour, deception and/or coercion to the ending of a partner’s or ex-partner’s pregnancy”.
Laws in other parts of the UK are stronger in relation to the offence of child destruction as an aggravating factor, but in Scotland it is not defined in
law.
In England and Wales, an offender could be jailed for as much as 15 years.
A date for the committee’s meeting in September has not been set, but will be uploaded onto the Scottish Parliament website in due
course.
Brodie’s Trust can be found at: www.facebook.com/brodiestrust
To contact Perthshire Women’s Aid, visit the following website: www.perthwomensaid.org.uk/ or call 01738 635404.
