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Each self-inflicted death in which the victim had endured domestic violence must be considered a potential homicide, according to calls from campaigners who aim to make perpetrators accountable for the catastrophic impact of their actions.

This move is necessary because law enforcement are failing to bring perpetrators accountable in instances of suicide after domestic abuse.

“In case after case, there is widespread breakdown, especially within the legal system, to examine these fatalities with the seriousness they warrant,” stated a leader of a advocacy organization during a landmark meeting in London earlier this week.

The assembly, arranged by a group leading a “Suicide is Homicide” campaign to advocate for change in the legal framework, brought together families who had suffered bereavement to self-inflicted death following domestic abuse.

Personal Stories of Loss

Sharon Holland experienced the death of her child Chloe Holland in March 2023. Prior to her passing, the young woman had reported her former partner to authorities, submitting a two-hour video interview as proof about his conduct.

After her death, the individual was convicted of manipulative and domineering conduct and jailed for over three years. He was subsequently jailed for three years and seven months after a second woman came forward to disclose that she had been in a violent and abusive relationship with him.

In the wake of her loss, the parent decided to campaign for a legal change to bring perpetrators accountable; yet she then realized that laws were already in place, they just were rarely applied to secure prosecutions.

“I decided it was not a new law I needed as existing laws were already there, and after learning how much my daughter had been failed before her death by the police and many other agencies, they needed to do their job properly, and practices required reform,” she explained.

“Over 47 families have found me and just a handful of us have had a conviction,” she continued. “I was astonished to see so many families who have been battling the authorities and prosecution service for a long time and getting no justice for their offspring or brother or sister and could not speak out in case it impacted investigations that were not progressing.”

Further Heartbreaking Account

One mother’s daughter Hannah passed away in May 2017, in what she described as “the final act of violence” in a prolonged pattern of mistreatment.

“Hannah was vibrant, she was loving,” she stated. “She was full of promise, and she was an amazing, deeply devoted mother to her two children, and she died by suicide after two years in a partnership where she was systematically destroyed by her companion,” she explained.

“She endured physical assaults, she was psychologically tortured, she was controlled and dismantled piece by piece until she could not see a path ahead. The man who caused this went unpunished, because we call 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 move on. Honestly, she didn’t just die by suicide. She was killed. Her death was gradual and intentionally over a two year period, and when I approached the authorities, when I pleaded with them to investigate what he had inflicted upon her, I was informed that there was nothing that they were able to take.

“No inquiry was conducted into her passing. The domestic violence fatality analysis, which I had to struggle to obtain, required five years and changed nothing. A four day inquest determined death by suicide, despite substantial proof over a extremely distressing four day period of domestic abuse and shortcomings by multiple services.”

The parent told the meeting that for eight years she has “been fighting a system that refuses to see what is obvious”.

She said the self-inflicted death is murder movement was critical “because when someone takes their own life after they’ve endured family violence, we have to investigate it for what it truly represents, which is murder.

“We need to apply the laws we already possess properly 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 need the will, we need police to conduct thorough inquiries. We need the Crown Prosecution Service to prosecute. We need the judiciary to understand that words and control can kill equally to physical force and arms.”

Government Reaction

At a second meeting in the House of Commons, led by a opposition politician, and including the safeguarding minister, the bereaved relatives again told their stories.

A parliamentary under-secretary told the meeting: “These deaths are often written off as if they were their own choice, they opted for this, when, in truth, these were the result of in fact, another person’s abuse, and these are not isolated stories.”

“The legal system is flawed, we know that,” she stated. “Especially around murder or manslaughter, it is fragmented. 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’m not going to pretend that it’s going to be easy to fix. It is extremely complicated and difficult, especially when you look at the matter of murder, but we recognize that it needs to be looked at.”

Legal Authority Comment

A representative for the prosecution service said: “Family violence is a terrible crime and our prosecutors 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 in the past prosecuted a several individuals for leading to the fatality of a companion they abused, encompassing 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 bring perpetrators accountable for the complete scope of their crimes.”