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Every suicide in which the deceased had endured abuse at home should be treated as a possible homicide, as per demands from advocates who aim to hold abusers responsible for the devastating impact of their actions.

This step is necessary because law enforcement are not doing enough to hold offenders to justice in cases of suicide after domestic abuse.

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

The assembly, organized by a group leading a “Self-Inflicted Death is Murder” initiative to fight for change in the legal framework, united families who had suffered bereavement to suicide after domestic abuse.

Personal Stories of Loss

Sharon Holland lost her daughter Chloe Holland in March 2023. Prior to her passing, Chloe had informed her ex-boyfriend to authorities, submitting a lengthy recorded statement as proof about his conduct.

Following her passing, the individual was found guilty of manipulative and domineering conduct and imprisoned for 41 months. He was later sentenced for three years and seven months after a another victim came forward to disclose that she had been in a harmful partnership with him.

After Chloe’s death, the parent chose to advocate for a new law to bring perpetrators accountable; however she then realized that laws were already in place, they just weren’t often being used to secure prosecutions.

“I concluded it wasn’t a new law I required as existing laws were already there, and after finding out how much my child had been let down before her death by the authorities and numerous services, they needed to fulfill their duties, and practices required reform,” she explained.

“Over 47 families have contacted me and just a handful of us have had a guilty verdict,” she added. “I was astonished to see so many families who have been fighting the police and CPS for years and getting no justice for their offspring or brother or sister and didn’t have a voice in case it impacted investigations that were not progressing.”

Further Heartbreaking Account

One mother’s daughter Hannah passed away in spring 2017, in what she called “the ultimate abusive action” in a campaign of abuse.

“She was vibrant, she was caring,” she stated. “She had great potential, and she was an exceptional, deeply devoted mum to her two children, and she died by suicide after 24 months in a partnership where she was systematically destroyed by her partner,” she explained.

“She endured physical assaults, she was psychologically tortured, she was dominated and broken down gradually until she could not see a way forward. The individual who did this to her walked free, because we label it suicide, we conclude the case and we move on.

“But I could not move on,” she said, “and I haven’t been able to move on. Honestly, Hannah didn’t just die by suicide. She was killed. She was killed slowly and deliberately over a two year period, and when I approached the authorities, when I begged them to investigate what he had done to her, I was told that there was nothing that they could do.

“No inquiry was conducted into her passing. The domestic violence fatality analysis, which I had to fight for, took five years and had no impact. A lengthy coroner’s hearing found death by suicide, notwithstanding huge evidence over a very traumatic four day period of domestic abuse and shortcomings by various agencies.”

The mother told the meeting that for eight years she has “been fighting a establishment that ignores what is obvious”.

She said the suicide is homicide movement was critical “since when an individual dies by suicide after they’ve suffered family violence, we have to examine it for what it really is, which is murder.

“We must apply the laws we already possess effectively and it is not occurring at the present, and we need to make perpetrators responsible for pushing their targets to suicide.

“The statutes exist. We require determination, we need police to conduct thorough inquiries. We need the Crown Prosecution Service to prosecute. We need the judiciary to recognize that verbal abuse and manipulation can kill equally to hands and weapons.”

Political Response

At a follow-up gathering in the Parliament, chaired by a Labour MP, and including the government official, the bereaved relatives again told their stories.

A junior minister told the meeting: “Such fatalities are often dismissed as if they were their decision, they chose to do this, when, reality, these were the result of actually, somebody else’s violence, and these aren’t isolated stories.”

“Our law is broken, we know that,” she said. “Particularly around murder or unlawful killing, it is fragmented. It lacks statutory basis anyway, it has been developed with common law practices for generations, 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 resolve. It is extremely complicated and challenging, particularly when you consider the issue of homicide, but we acknowledge that it needs to be looked at.”

Prosecution Service Statement

A representative for the legal body said: “Domestic abuse is a heinous crime and our legal officers are regularly instructed to consider murder and manslaughter charges in self-inflicted death instances where there is a known context of family violence or other manipulative conduct.

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

“We are collaborating with police and other stakeholders to ensure these kinds of offences are well-understood – so that we can bring perpetrators to justice for the full extent of their wrongdoings.”