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Every suicide where the deceased had experienced domestic violence should be treated as a possible homicide, according to demands from campaigners who seek to hold abusers accountable for the catastrophic impact of their actions.

This move is essential because police and prosecutors are not doing enough to hold offenders accountable in instances of self-inflicted death following domestic abuse.

“In case after case, there is systemic and structural failure, particularly within the legal system, to scrutinise these deaths with the seriousness they warrant,” stated a leader of a advocacy organization during a landmark gathering in London recently.

The meeting, organized by a organization leading a “Suicide is Homicide” campaign to fight for change in the legal framework, brought together families who had suffered bereavement to suicide after family violence.

Personal Stories of Tragedy

Sharon Holland experienced the death of her child her 23-year-old daughter in spring 2023. Prior to her passing, the young woman had reported her ex-boyfriend to authorities, submitting a two-hour video interview as proof about his conduct.

Following her passing, the perpetrator was found guilty of manipulative and domineering conduct and imprisoned for 41 months. He was subsequently sentenced for an additional term after a another victim stepped up to report that she had been in a violent and abusive relationship with him.

After Chloe’s death, the mother chose to advocate for a new law to hold offenders accountable; however she then discovered that laws were existing, they just were rarely applied to achieve convictions.

“I decided it wasn’t a fresh legislation I needed as existing laws were in place, and after learning how much my child had been let down previous to her death by the authorities and numerous services, they needed to fulfill their duties, and practices required reform,” she said.

“More than four dozen relatives have found me and only four of us have had a conviction,” she added. “I was so shocked to see so many families who have been fighting the authorities and CPS for a long time and getting no justice for their child or sibling and could not speak out in case it impacted investigations that were not progressing.”

Further Heartbreaking Account

One mother’s child Hannah passed away in spring 2017, in what she described as “the final act of violence” in a campaign of abuse.

“She was vibrant, she was loving,” she said. “She had great potential, and she was an amazing, really loving mum to her kids, and she took her own life after two years in a relationship where she was methodically broken down by her companion,” she explained.

“She endured physical assaults, she was psychologically tortured, she was controlled and broken down gradually until she was unable to envision a way forward. The man who did this to her walked free, because we call it self-inflicted death, we conclude the case and we move on.

“Yet I was unable to continue,” she remarked, “and I have not managed to move on. Honestly, she didn’t just die by suicide. She was murdered. Her death was gradual and intentionally over a two year period, and when I went to the police, when I pleaded with them to look into what he had done to her, I was informed that there was nothing that they were able to take.

“No inquiry was conducted into her death. The domestic violence fatality analysis, which I had to fight for, required five years and changed nothing. A lengthy coroner’s hearing determined self-inflicted death, despite substantial proof over a very traumatic multi-day session of family violence and failings by multiple services.”

The mother informed the gathering that for eight years she has “been fighting a system that refuses to see what is obvious”.

She emphasized the suicide is homicide campaign was vital “since when an individual dies by suicide after they’ve suffered domestic abuse, we have to examine it for what it truly represents, which is murder.

“We must apply the laws we already possess effectively and it really isn’t happening at the moment, and we need to hold abusers accountable for pushing their targets to suicide.

“We have the laws. We require determination, we need law enforcement to conduct thorough inquiries. We need the Crown Prosecution Service to take legal action. We need the judiciary to understand that verbal abuse and manipulation can cause death just as much as hands and weapons.”

Political Response

At a follow-up gathering in the House of Commons, led by a Labour MP, and attended by the safeguarding minister, the bereaved relatives again told their stories.

A junior minister told the meeting: “These deaths are often dismissed as if they were their decision, they opted for this, when, in truth, these were the culmination of actually, another person’s abuse, and these are not isolated stories.”

“The legal system is flawed, we know that,” she stated. “Particularly around murder or manslaughter, it is fragmented. It’s not written in statute anyway, it has been developed with common law practices for centuries, and it is no longer fit for purpose, quite frankly, given the society we inhabit today.

“I’m not going to pretend that it’s going to be simple to fix. It is incredibly complex and difficult, especially when you consider the matter of murder, but we acknowledge that it requires examination.”

Prosecution Service Statement

A representative for the prosecution service commented: “Family violence is a heinous crime and our legal officers are actively advised to evaluate murder and manslaughter charges in suicide cases where there is a established background of family violence or other manipulative conduct.

“We have previously charged a several individuals for leading to the fatality of a partner they abused, including in cases which are ongoing.

“We are also working with police and other stakeholders to guarantee these types of crimes are well-understood – so that we can hold offenders to justice for the complete scope of their crimes.”