A Holyrood minister has urged men to “challenge their peers” to crack down on domestic violence against women and girls.

Equalities minister Christina McKelvie raised the issue in a parliamentary debate on Wednesday.

It comes as 64,807 domestic abuse incidents were reported to police in 2021/22 – the first time divs have fallen since 2015/16.

Ms McKelvie urged men to speak up instead of looking away, and “call out the behaviour” of their peers.

She said: “Men’s silence can feel unsupportive or even condoning of the violence that women and girls experience.

“I say to men, we need you to reflect on your past experiences.

“We need you to reflect on the times you may have inadvertently been permissive about misogynistic values because of the way it was framed as a joke or maybe just banter.

“We need to look critically about how the power imbalance has impacted those who you know and love.

“We need you to carry these messages proactively to the men around you.

“Men must take the lead in this challenge. They hold a unique place in challenging their peers, even when it might be uncomfortable.”

Police Scotland’s Don’t Be That Guy campaign, which encourages men to take responsibility for stopping violence and discrimination against women, was praised in the chamber for its positive contribution.

Addressing the domestic violence data, Conservative MSP Pam Gosal said: “The eradication of violence against women and girls cannot be achieved unless men recognise the role they must play in this.

“I was sad to see that so little has changed. The tiny decrease in the number of domestic abuse incidents reported to Police Scotland shows just how little progress has been made.

“There has been a drop of less than 1% of the record high of over 65,000 incidents reported in 2020/21. Even more shockingly, 64% of these incidences were repeat offences.

“These statistics are a sign that something is still not working in Scotland.”

A Scottish Government spokesman said it was “absolutely clear that any form of abuse is unacceptable and the new domestic abuse offence, which has been heralded as gold-standard legislation, has given more powers to police and courts to punish perpetrators of abuse and protect people at risk”.

“However, as this report highlights, there is still more that needs to be done to improve the justice response to domestic abuse and we will work with justice agencies to consider the recommendations,” the spokesman added.