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Every suicide in which the deceased had endured abuse at home must be treated as a possible homicide, as per calls from advocates who aim to make perpetrators responsible for the devastating consequences of their behavior.

This step is necessary because law enforcement are not doing enough to bring perpetrators to justice in instances of suicide following family violence.

“In case after case, there is widespread breakdown, particularly within the criminal justice system, to examine these fatalities with the seriousness they deserve,” stated a leader of a campaign group at a significant gathering in London earlier this week.

The meeting, arranged by a organization leading a “Suicide is Homicide” campaign to advocate for reform in the legal framework, brought together relatives who had suffered bereavement to self-inflicted death following family violence.

Personal Stories of Tragedy

Sharon Holland experienced the death of her child her 23-year-old daughter in March 2023. Prior to her passing, the young woman had reported her ex-boyfriend to authorities, submitting a lengthy recorded statement as proof against him.

Following her passing, the perpetrator was found guilty of coercive and controlling behavior and imprisoned for over three years. He was later sentenced for three years and seven months after a another victim stepped up to report that she had been in a violent and abusive relationship with him.

After Chloe’s death, the parent decided to campaign for a legal change to hold offenders accountable; however she then discovered that laws were already in place, they just weren’t often being used to achieve convictions.

“I decided it wasn’t a fresh legislation I needed as current statutes were already there, and after finding out how much my child had been failed previous to her death by the authorities and numerous services, they needed to do their job properly, and things required reform,” she said.

“Over 47 families 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 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 inquiries 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 energetic, she was caring,” she said. “She had great potential, and she was an amazing, really loving mum to her kids, and she died by suicide after 24 months in a partnership where she was systematically destroyed by her partner,” she said.

“She endured physical assaults, she was mentally tormented, she was controlled and broken down gradually until she was unable to envision a path ahead. The man who caused this went unpunished, because we call it self-inflicted death, we close the file and we proceed.

“But I could not move on,” she said, “and I haven’t been able to let go. In truth, she didn’t just die by suicide. She was murdered. Her death was gradual and deliberately over a two year period, and when I approached the authorities, when I pleaded with them to look into what he had done to her, I was informed that there was nothing that they could do.

“There was no investigation into her death. The domestic violence fatality analysis, which I had to fight for, required five years and changed nothing. A lengthy coroner’s hearing determined death by suicide, notwithstanding substantial proof over a extremely distressing four day period of family violence and failings by various agencies.”

The mother informed the gathering that for eight years she has “been fighting a system that ignores what is obvious”.

She emphasized the self-inflicted death is murder movement was vital “since when an individual dies by suicide after they’ve endured domestic abuse, we have to examine it for what it really is, which is homicide.

“We must use the legislation we already possess properly and it is not occurring at the present, and we need to make perpetrators responsible for driving their victims to death.

“The statutes exist. We need the will, we need law enforcement to investigate properly. We need the prosecution authority to take legal action. We need the judiciary to recognize that verbal abuse and manipulation can cause death equally to physical force and arms.”

Government Reaction

At a second meeting in the House of Commons, led by a Labour MP, and including the government official, the grieving families again told their stories.

A junior minister informed the assembly: “Such fatalities are often written off as if they were their own choice, they chose to do this, when, reality, these were the result of in fact, another person’s abuse, and these aren’t isolated stories.”

“Our law is broken, we know that,” she stated. “Especially around murder or unlawful killing, it is piecemeal. It lacks statutory basis anyway, it has been developed with traditional legal customs for centuries, and it is outdated, honestly, it’s the world we inhabit today.

“I will not claim that it’s going to be simple to resolve. It is incredibly complex and difficult, especially when you look at the issue of homicide, but we recognize that it requires examination.”

Legal Authority Comment

A spokesperson for the prosecution service commented: “Domestic abuse is a terrible 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 domestic abuse or other manipulative conduct.

“We have previously charged a several individuals for causing the death of a companion they mistreated, encompassing in cases which are currently active.

“We are collaborating with police and other stakeholders to ensure these types of crimes are clearly recognized – so that we can bring perpetrators accountable for the full extent of their wrongdoings.”