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Each self-inflicted death in which the victim had endured domestic violence should be considered a possible homicide, as per calls from advocates who seek to make perpetrators accountable for the catastrophic impact 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 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 co-director of a advocacy organization at a landmark gathering in Westminster earlier this week.

The meeting, arranged by a organization leading a “Self-Inflicted Death is Murder” initiative to fight for change in the legal framework, united families who had lost loved ones to self-inflicted death after domestic abuse.

Personal Stories of Loss

Sharon Holland experienced the death of her child her 23-year-old daughter in spring 2023. Before her death, Chloe had reported her former partner to authorities, submitting a lengthy recorded statement as proof about his conduct.

After her death, the perpetrator was convicted of manipulative and domineering conduct and jailed for over three years. He was subsequently jailed for an additional term after a another victim stepped up to report that she had been in a harmful partnership with him.

After Chloe’s death, the mother decided to campaign for a new law to bring perpetrators accountable; yet she then realized that laws were already in place, they just weren’t often being used to achieve convictions.

“I concluded it was not a new law I needed as existing laws were in place, and after learning how much my child had been failed previous to her death by the police and many other agencies, they had to fulfill their duties, and practices required reform,” she explained.

“More than four dozen relatives have found me and only four of us have had a guilty verdict,” she continued. “I was so shocked to see so many families who have been battling the police and prosecution service for a long time and receiving no resolution for their offspring or brother or sister and could not speak out in case it impacted investigations that weren’t possibly going anywhere.”

Another Tragic Case

Saskia Lightburn Richie’s child Hannah passed away in May 2017, in what she called “the final act of violence” in a prolonged pattern of mistreatment.

“Hannah was vibrant, she was loving,” she stated. “She had great potential, and she was an exceptional, deeply devoted mum to her kids, and she died by suicide after two years in a relationship where she was systematically destroyed by her companion,” she said.

“She endured physical assaults, she was psychologically tortured, she was dominated and dismantled gradually until she was unable to envision a path ahead. The man who caused this went unpunished, because we label it suicide, we conclude the case and we proceed.

“But I could not move on,” she remarked, “and I haven’t been able to let go. In truth, she didn’t just die by suicide. She was killed. Her death was gradual and intentionally over a 24-month span, and when I went to the police, when I begged them to investigate what he had inflicted upon her, I was told that there was no action that they could do.

“There was no investigation into her passing. The domestic violence fatality analysis, which I had to fight for, required five years and had no impact. A lengthy coroner’s hearing determined death by suicide, notwithstanding substantial proof over a very traumatic four day period of domestic abuse and failings by multiple services.”

The mother informed the gathering that for a decade she has “struggled against a establishment that ignores what is right in front of it”.

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 examine it for what it really is, which is homicide.

“We must use the legislation we currently have properly and it really isn’t happening at the moment, and we need to hold abusers accountable for driving their victims to death.

“We have the laws. We require determination, we need law enforcement to investigate properly. We need the prosecution authority to prosecute. We need judges to recognize that verbal abuse and manipulation can kill just as much as physical force and arms.”

Political Response

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

A parliamentary under-secretary informed the assembly: “Such fatalities are often dismissed as if they were their decision, they opted for this, when, in truth, these were the result of actually, another person’s abuse, and these are not isolated stories.”

“The legal system is flawed, we are aware,” she stated. “Especially around homicide or unlawful killing, it is piecemeal. It’s not written in statute anyway, it has been developed with common law practices for generations, and it is outdated, quite frankly, it’s the world we inhabit today.

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

Prosecution Service Statement

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

“We have in the past prosecuted a number of defendants for leading to the fatality of a companion they abused, encompassing in cases which are currently active.

“We are also working with law enforcement and other parties to guarantee these kinds of offences are clearly recognized – so that we can hold offenders to justice for the full extent of their wrongdoings.”