Every suicide where the victim had endured abuse at home must be treated as a possible homicide, according to calls from advocates who seek to hold abusers responsible for the catastrophic consequences of their actions.
This step is essential because law enforcement are failing to bring perpetrators to justice in instances of self-inflicted death after domestic abuse.
“Time and again, there is systemic and structural failure, particularly within the criminal justice system, to examine these deaths with the seriousness they warrant,” remarked a co-director of a advocacy organization during a landmark gathering in London earlier this week.
The assembly, arranged by a group running a “Suicide is Homicide” initiative to advocate for change in the criminal justice system, united relatives who had lost loved ones to suicide following domestic abuse.
Individual Accounts of Tragedy
One mother experienced the death of her child her 23-year-old daughter in spring 2023. Before her death, Chloe had reported her ex-boyfriend to authorities, providing a two-hour video interview as evidence against him.
Following her passing, the perpetrator was convicted of manipulative and domineering conduct and jailed for 41 months. He was subsequently sentenced for an additional term after a second woman came forward to disclose that she had been in a harmful partnership with him.
After Chloe’s death, the mother decided to campaign for a new law to bring perpetrators to justice; yet she then discovered that regulations were already in place, they just were rarely applied to secure prosecutions.
“I decided it was not a fresh legislation I needed as current statutes were already there, and after finding out how much my child had been failed previous to her death by the police and many other agencies, they needed to fulfill their duties, and things required reform,” she explained.
“More than four dozen relatives have contacted me and just a handful of us have had a conviction,” she added. “I was so shocked to see such a large number who have been fighting the police and CPS for a long time and receiving no resolution for their offspring or sibling and could not speak out in case it affected inquiries that weren’t possibly going anywhere.”
Further Heartbreaking Account
One mother’s child Hannah passed away in May 2017, in what she called “the final act of violence” in a campaign of abuse.
“Hannah was energetic, she was loving,” she stated. “She was full of promise, and she was an amazing, deeply devoted mother to her kids, and she died by suicide after two years in a relationship where she was methodically broken down by her companion,” she said.
“She endured physical assaults, she was psychologically tortured, she was controlled and broken down piece by piece until she was unable to envision a path ahead. The man who did this to her walked free, because we label it self-inflicted death, we conclude the case and we proceed.
“But I could not move on,” she remarked, “and I have not managed to let go. Honestly, Hannah did not merely take her own life. She was killed. She was killed slowly and intentionally over a two year period, and when I approached the authorities, when I begged them to investigate what he had inflicted upon her, I was told that there was nothing that they could do.
“No inquiry was conducted into her death. The domestic violence fatality analysis, which I had to fight for, took five years and changed nothing. A lengthy coroner’s hearing found self-inflicted death, despite substantial proof over a extremely distressing four day period of domestic abuse and shortcomings by various agencies.”
The mother informed the gathering that for a decade she has “been fighting a establishment that ignores what is right in front of it”.
She said the self-inflicted death is murder movement was vital “since when someone dies by suicide after they’ve suffered domestic abuse, we have to examine it for what it truly represents, which is homicide.
“We need to apply the laws we already possess effectively and it is not occurring at the moment, and we need to hold abusers accountable for pushing their targets to suicide.
“The statutes exist. We need the will, we need police to conduct thorough inquiries. We need the Crown Prosecution Service to take legal action. We need the judiciary to recognize that words and control can kill equally to physical force and arms.”
Political Response
At a follow-up gathering in the Parliament, led by a Labour MP, and attended by the safeguarding minister, the grieving families again shared their experiences.
A parliamentary under-secretary told the meeting: “Such fatalities are often dismissed as if they were their decision, they opted for this, when, in truth, these were the result of in fact, another person’s abuse, and these aren’t rare incidents.”
“The legal system is flawed, we are aware,” she said. “Especially around homicide or manslaughter, it is piecemeal. It lacks statutory basis regardless, it has been shaped with common law practices for centuries, and it is no longer fit for purpose, honestly, it’s the world we inhabit today.
“I will not claim that it’s going to be simple to resolve. It is incredibly complex and challenging, especially when you look at the issue of murder, but we recognize that it needs to be looked at.”
Prosecution Service Statement
A spokesperson for the prosecution service said: “Domestic abuse is a heinous crime and our legal officers are actively advised to evaluate murder and manslaughter charges in self-inflicted death instances where there is a known context of family violence or other manipulative conduct.
“We have in the past prosecuted a several individuals for causing the death of a companion they abused, including in proceedings which are ongoing.
“We are also working with police and other parties to guarantee these kinds of offences are clearly recognized – so that we can hold offenders accountable for the full extent of their wrongdoings.”
