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Every suicide in which the victim had experienced domestic violence must be considered a possible murder case, as per demands from campaigners who aim to hold abusers accountable for the devastating consequences of their actions.

This move is essential because police and prosecutors are failing to hold offenders to justice in cases of self-inflicted death following domestic abuse.

“In case after case, there is systemic and structural failure, especially within the criminal justice system, to examine these deaths with the seriousness they deserve,” stated a leader of a advocacy organization during a significant gathering in Westminster recently.

The meeting, arranged by a group leading a “Suicide is Homicide” initiative to fight for reform in the criminal justice system, united relatives who had lost loved ones to self-inflicted death following family violence.

Personal Stories of Loss

Sharon Holland lost her daughter Chloe Holland in spring 2023. Before her death, the young woman had reported her ex-boyfriend to police, submitting a lengthy recorded statement as evidence about his conduct.

After her death, the individual was convicted of coercive and controlling behavior and imprisoned for 41 months. He was subsequently sentenced for an additional term after a another victim stepped up to disclose that she had been in a harmful partnership with him.

In the wake of her loss, the parent chose to advocate for a legal change to bring perpetrators to justice; however she then realized that regulations were existing, they just weren’t often being used to secure prosecutions.

“I concluded it was not a new law I needed as existing laws were already there, and after finding out how much my child had been let down before her taking her life by the police and numerous services, they had to fulfill their duties, and practices needed to change,” she explained.

“More than four dozen relatives have contacted me and just a handful of us have had a conviction,” 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 weren’t possibly going anywhere.”

Further Heartbreaking Account

One mother’s child her 30-year-old daughter died in May 2017, in what she called “the final act of violence” in a campaign of abuse.

“Hannah was vibrant, she was loving,” she stated. “She had great potential, and she was an amazing, deeply devoted mum to her two children, and she took her own life after 24 months in a relationship where she was methodically broken down by her partner,” she said.

“She endured physical assaults, she was psychologically tortured, she was dominated and broken down gradually until she could not see a path ahead. The individual who caused this went unpunished, because we call it suicide, we close the file and we proceed.

“But I could not move on,” she remarked, “and I haven’t been able to let go. Honestly, she did not merely take her own life. She was murdered. Her death was gradual and deliberately over a 24-month span, and when I went to the police, when I begged them to look into what he had inflicted upon her, I was informed that there was no action that they were able to take.

“There was no investigation into her passing. The domestic violence fatality analysis, which I had to struggle to obtain, required five years and had no impact. A lengthy coroner’s hearing determined self-inflicted death, despite substantial proof over a very traumatic multi-day session of domestic abuse and failings by multiple services.”

The mother informed the gathering that for a decade she has “struggled against a establishment that refuses to see what is obvious”.

She emphasized the self-inflicted death is murder movement was critical “since when an individual takes their own life after they’ve suffered family violence, we have to investigate it for what it really is, which is homicide.

“We must apply the laws we currently have effectively and it is not occurring 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 prosecution authority to take legal action. We need the judiciary to recognize that words and control can cause death equally to hands and weapons.”

Government Reaction

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

A parliamentary under-secretary told the meeting: “Such fatalities are often written off as if they were their decision, they chose to do this, when, in truth, these were the result of actually, another person’s abuse, and these aren’t isolated stories.”

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

“I’m not going to pretend that it’s going to be easy to resolve. It is extremely complicated and difficult, particularly when you look at the issue of homicide, but we recognize that it needs to be looked at.”

Legal Authority Comment

A representative for the legal body commented: “Domestic abuse is a heinous offense and our prosecutors are regularly instructed to evaluate homicide allegations in suicide cases where there is a established background of family violence or other controlling or coercive behavior.

“We have previously charged a several individuals for causing the death of a partner they abused, encompassing in cases which are ongoing.

“We are also working with police and other stakeholders to ensure these kinds of offences are clearly recognized – so that we can hold offenders accountable for the full extent of their wrongdoings.”