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Each self-inflicted death in which the deceased had endured abuse at home should be considered a potential homicide, as per demands from advocates who seek to hold abusers responsible for the devastating consequences of their actions.

This step is necessary because police and prosecutors are not doing enough to hold offenders to justice in cases of suicide following family violence.

“In case after case, there is widespread breakdown, particularly within the criminal justice system, to examine these deaths with the seriousness they warrant,” remarked a leader of a advocacy organization at a significant meeting in Westminster earlier this week.

The assembly, organized by a organization running a “Self-Inflicted Death is Murder” campaign to fight for change in the legal framework, brought together relatives who had suffered bereavement to self-inflicted death after domestic abuse.

Personal Stories of Loss

Sharon Holland lost her daughter her 23-year-old daughter in March 2023. Prior to her passing, Chloe had reported her ex-boyfriend to police, providing a two-hour video interview as evidence against him.

Following her passing, the perpetrator was convicted of coercive and controlling behavior and jailed for over three years. He was subsequently sentenced for an additional term after a second woman came forward to report that she had been in a harmful partnership with him.

In the wake of her loss, the mother decided to campaign for a new law to bring perpetrators to justice; however she then discovered that laws were existing, they just weren’t often being used to achieve convictions.

“I concluded it was not a new law I needed as existing laws were already there, and after learning how much my daughter had been let down before her taking her life by the police and many other agencies, they had to fulfill their duties, and things needed to change,” she said.

“Over 47 families have contacted me and only four of us have had a guilty verdict,” she added. “I was so shocked to see so many families who have been fighting the police and prosecution service for years and receiving no resolution for their offspring or brother or sister and didn’t have a voice in case it impacted inquiries that were not progressing.”

Further Heartbreaking Account

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

“Hannah was energetic, she was caring,” she stated. “She had great potential, and she was an amazing, deeply devoted mum to her kids, and she died by suicide after 24 months in a partnership where she was methodically broken down by her partner,” she explained.

“She endured physical assaults, she was psychologically tortured, she was controlled and dismantled piece by piece until she could not see a way forward. The man who did this to her went unpunished, because we label it suicide, we conclude the case and we move on.

“But I could not move on,” she said, “and I have not managed to let go. In truth, she didn’t just die by suicide. She was murdered. She was killed slowly and deliberately over a 24-month span, and when I went to the police, when I pleaded with them to investigate what he had done to her, I was told that there was nothing that they were able to take.

“There was no investigation into her passing. The domestic violence fatality analysis, which I had to fight for, took five years and changed nothing. A four day inquest found death by suicide, despite huge evidence over a very traumatic 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 system that refuses to see what is obvious”.

She emphasized the self-inflicted death is murder movement was vital “because when someone dies by suicide after they’ve suffered family violence, we have to investigate it for what it truly represents, which is homicide.

“We must use the legislation we already possess effectively and it is not occurring at the present, and we need to hold abusers accountable for driving their victims to death.

“We have the laws. We need the will, we need police to conduct thorough inquiries. We need the prosecution authority to take legal action. We need the judiciary to understand that words and control can cause death just as much as physical force and arms.”

Government Reaction

At a second meeting in the House of Commons, chaired by a opposition politician, and attended by the safeguarding minister, the grieving families again shared their experiences.

A parliamentary under-secretary informed the assembly: “Such fatalities are often written off as if they were their decision, they chose to do this, when, reality, these were the result of actually, another person’s abuse, and these are not rare incidents.”

“Our law is broken, we know that,” she said. “Particularly around homicide or unlawful killing, it is piecemeal. It lacks statutory basis anyway, it has been shaped with traditional legal customs for generations, and it is outdated, honestly, it’s the world we currently live in.

“I’m not going to pretend that it’s going to be simple to resolve. It is incredibly complex and challenging, particularly when you consider the matter of murder, but we recognize that it needs to be looked at.”

Prosecution Service Statement

A spokesperson for the prosecution service said: “Family violence is a terrible crime and our legal officers are regularly instructed to evaluate homicide allegations in suicide cases where there is a established background of domestic abuse or other controlling or coercive behavior.

“We have previously charged a number of defendants for leading to the fatality of a partner they mistreated, including in cases which are currently active.

“We are collaborating with police and other parties to guarantee these types of crimes are well-understood – so that we can hold offenders to justice for the full extent of their crimes.”