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Each self-inflicted death in which the victim had experienced domestic violence must be considered a possible murder case, according to demands from campaigners who seek to make perpetrators responsible for the catastrophic consequences of their behavior.

This move is essential because police and prosecutors are not doing enough to bring perpetrators to justice in cases of suicide after domestic abuse.

“Time and again, there is widespread breakdown, particularly within the legal system, to examine these fatalities with the gravity they warrant,” stated a co-director of a advocacy organization during a significant meeting in London recently.

The assembly, organized by a organization leading a “Self-Inflicted Death is Murder” initiative to advocate for reform in the legal framework, united families who had suffered bereavement to suicide following domestic abuse.

Individual Accounts of Tragedy

One mother experienced the death of her child Chloe Holland in March 2023. Before her death, the young woman had informed her former partner to authorities, providing a two-hour video interview as evidence against him.

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

In the wake of her loss, the parent chose to advocate for a new law to bring perpetrators accountable; however she then discovered that regulations were existing, they just were rarely applied to secure prosecutions.

“I concluded it wasn’t a new law I required as existing laws were in place, and after learning how much my daughter had been let down previous to her taking her life by the police and many other agencies, they needed to do their job properly, and practices required reform,” she said.

“Over 47 families have found me and just a handful of us have had a guilty verdict,” she added. “I was astonished to see such a large number who have been fighting the authorities and prosecution service for years and receiving no resolution for their offspring or sibling and could not speak out in case it impacted inquiries that were not progressing.”

Another Tragic Case

One mother’s child Hannah died in spring 2017, in what she described as “the ultimate abusive action” in a prolonged pattern of mistreatment.

“She was vibrant, she was loving,” she said. “She was full of promise, and she was an amazing, deeply devoted mum to her kids, and she died by suicide after two years in a relationship where she was methodically broken down by her partner,” she explained.

“She was physically beaten, she was mentally tormented, she was controlled and broken down piece by piece until she could not see a path ahead. The individual who did this to her walked free, 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 move on. Honestly, she did not merely take her own life. She was killed. Her death was gradual and intentionally over a two year period, and when I went to the police, when I begged them to investigate what he had inflicted upon her, I was informed that there was nothing that they could do.

“There was no investigation into her passing. The domestic violence fatality analysis, which I had to fight for, took five years and had no impact. A four day inquest found death by suicide, notwithstanding huge evidence over a very traumatic four day period of domestic abuse and shortcomings by multiple services.”

The parent informed the gathering that for a decade she has “been fighting a system that refuses to see what is obvious”.

She said the suicide is homicide campaign was critical “because when someone dies by suicide after they’ve suffered family violence, we have to examine it for what it really is, which is murder.

“We need to use the legislation we currently have effectively and it really isn’t happening at the moment, and we need to make perpetrators responsible for pushing their targets to suicide.

“The statutes exist. We require determination, we need law enforcement to investigate properly. We need the Crown Prosecution Service to prosecute. We need judges to recognize that words and control can kill just as much as hands and weapons.”

Government Reaction

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 told the meeting: “Such fatalities are often dismissed as if they were their own choice, they chose to do this, when, in truth, these were the result of in fact, somebody else’s violence, and these are not isolated stories.”

“Our law is broken, we are aware,” she stated. “Especially around homicide or unlawful killing, it is piecemeal. It’s not written in statute regardless, it has been developed with common law practices for centuries, and it is no longer fit for purpose, honestly, it’s the world we currently live in.

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

Prosecution Service Statement

A representative for the prosecution service commented: “Domestic abuse is a terrible crime and our prosecutors are regularly instructed to consider murder and manslaughter charges in suicide cases where there is a established background of domestic abuse or other manipulative conduct.

“We have previously charged a number of defendants for causing the death of a companion they mistreated, encompassing in proceedings which are ongoing.

“We are collaborating with police and other parties to guarantee these kinds of offences are well-understood – so that we can bring perpetrators to justice for the full extent of their wrongdoings.”