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Every suicide in which the victim had endured domestic violence must be considered a potential homicide, according to calls from advocates who aim to hold abusers responsible for the catastrophic impact of their behavior.

This move is essential because law enforcement are failing to bring perpetrators to justice in instances of self-inflicted death after domestic abuse.

“In case after case, there is systemic and structural failure, particularly within the legal system, to scrutinise these fatalities with the gravity they deserve,” remarked a leader of a campaign group during a significant meeting in London earlier this week.

The meeting, arranged by a group running a “Self-Inflicted Death is Murder” initiative to advocate for change in the criminal justice system, brought together families who had lost loved ones to suicide following domestic abuse.

Personal Stories of Tragedy

One mother lost her daughter Chloe Holland in March 2023. Prior to her passing, Chloe had informed her former partner to authorities, providing a lengthy recorded statement as proof against him.

After her death, the individual 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 violent and abusive relationship with him.

After Chloe’s death, the mother chose to advocate for a new law to hold offenders accountable; yet she then realized that regulations 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 in place, and after learning how much my child had been let down before her death by the authorities and many other agencies, they needed to fulfill their duties, and things required reform,” she explained.

“More than four dozen relatives have contacted me and only four of us have had a conviction,” she continued. “I was astonished to see such a large number who have been battling the police and CPS for years and receiving no resolution for their child or sibling and could not speak out in case it affected investigations that weren’t possibly going anywhere.”

Further Heartbreaking Account

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

“Hannah was energetic, she was caring,” she stated. “She was full of promise, and she was an exceptional, really loving mother to her kids, and she died by suicide 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 dismantled piece by piece until she could not see a path ahead. The individual who caused this went unpunished, because we label it suicide, we close the file and we proceed.

“But I could not move on,” she remarked, “and I have not managed to let go. In truth, Hannah 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 look into what he had inflicted upon her, I was told 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 four day inquest found death by suicide, despite substantial proof over a very traumatic four day period of family violence and failings by various agencies.”

The mother informed the gathering that for eight years she has “struggled against a establishment that ignores what is obvious”.

She emphasized the suicide is homicide movement was vital “because when an individual takes their own life after they’ve endured domestic abuse, we have to investigate it for what it really is, which is homicide.

“We must use the legislation we currently have effectively and it is not occurring at the moment, and we need to make perpetrators responsible for pushing their targets to suicide.

“We have the laws. We require determination, we need police to investigate properly. We need the prosecution authority to prosecute. We need judges to understand that words and control can cause death equally to physical force and arms.”

Political Response

At a second meeting in the Parliament, led by a opposition politician, and attended by the government official, the grieving families again shared their experiences.

A junior minister informed the assembly: “These deaths are often dismissed as if they were their own choice, they opted for this, when, in truth, these were the culmination of in fact, another person’s abuse, and these aren’t rare incidents.”

“The legal system is flawed, we know that,” she said. “Particularly around homicide or unlawful killing, it is piecemeal. It lacks statutory basis regardless, it has been shaped with traditional legal customs for centuries, and it is outdated, quite frankly, given the society we inhabit today.

“I will not claim that it’s going to be easy to fix. It is extremely complicated and difficult, particularly when you consider the matter of murder, but we recognize that it needs to be looked at.”

Legal Authority Comment

A representative for the legal body said: “Family violence is a terrible crime and our legal officers are actively advised to evaluate homicide allegations in suicide cases where there is a established background of family violence or other manipulative conduct.

“We have in the past prosecuted a number of defendants for causing the death of a partner they abused, including in cases which are currently active.

“We are also working with police and other parties to guarantee these types of crimes are clearly recognized – so that we can hold offenders to justice for the full extent of their crimes.”