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Every suicide in which the deceased had endured domestic violence should be considered a potential homicide, according to calls from campaigners who seek to hold abusers responsible for the devastating consequences of their behavior.

This move is necessary because police and prosecutors are not doing enough to bring perpetrators accountable in cases of self-inflicted death following domestic abuse.

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

The meeting, organized by a group running a “Self-Inflicted Death is Murder” initiative to advocate for change in the criminal justice system, united relatives who had lost loved ones to self-inflicted death after family violence.

Individual Accounts of Loss

One mother lost her daughter her 23-year-old daughter in spring 2023. Prior to her passing, Chloe had informed her former partner to police, providing a lengthy recorded statement as proof against him.

Following her passing, the individual was found guilty of coercive and controlling behavior and jailed for over three years. He was later sentenced for an additional term after a second woman 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 legal change to hold offenders accountable; however she then realized that laws were already in place, they just weren’t often being used to secure prosecutions.

“I decided it wasn’t a new law I needed as existing laws were in place, and after finding out how much my child had been let down before her taking her life by the police and numerous services, they needed to do their job properly, and things required reform,” she said.

“Over 47 families have contacted me and only four of us have had a conviction,” she added. “I was so shocked to see so many families who have been fighting the authorities and CPS for a long time and receiving no resolution for their child or brother or sister and could not speak out in case it impacted inquiries that were not progressing.”

Another Tragic Case

Saskia Lightburn Richie’s daughter her 30-year-old daughter passed away in spring 2017, in what she called “the ultimate abusive action” in a campaign of abuse.

“Hannah was vibrant, she was caring,” she said. “She was full of promise, and she was an exceptional, really loving mum to her kids, and she died by suicide after 24 months in a relationship where she was systematically destroyed by her companion,” she explained.

“She endured physical assaults, she was mentally tormented, she was dominated and broken down gradually until she could not see a way forward. The individual who caused this walked free, because we label it self-inflicted death, we close the file and we move on.

“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 killed. Her death was gradual 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.

“No inquiry was conducted into her passing. The domestic violence fatality analysis, which I had to fight for, required five years and changed nothing. A lengthy coroner’s hearing found death by suicide, despite substantial proof over a extremely distressing multi-day session of family violence and failings by multiple services.”

The parent told the meeting that for a decade she has “struggled against a establishment that ignores what is right in front of it”.

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

“We need to apply the laws we currently have properly and it really isn’t happening at the present, and we need to hold abusers accountable for pushing their targets to suicide.

“The statutes exist. We require determination, we need police to conduct thorough inquiries. We need the Crown Prosecution Service to prosecute. We need judges to understand that verbal abuse and manipulation can cause death just as much as hands and weapons.”

Government Reaction

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

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

“Our law is broken, we are aware,” she said. “Especially around homicide or manslaughter, it is fragmented. It’s not written in statute anyway, it has been developed with common law practices for generations, and it is outdated, honestly, given the society we inhabit today.

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

Legal Authority Comment

A representative for the legal body said: “Domestic abuse is a terrible crime and our legal officers are regularly instructed to evaluate homicide allegations in self-inflicted death instances where there is a established background of family violence or other manipulative conduct.

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

“We are also working with police and other stakeholders to ensure these types of crimes are well-understood – so that we can bring perpetrators accountable for the complete scope of their wrongdoings.”