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Each self-inflicted death in which the victim had experienced domestic violence must be treated as a possible homicide, according to calls from advocates who aim to hold abusers accountable for the catastrophic impact of their actions.

This move is essential because police and prosecutors are not doing enough to hold offenders to justice in instances of suicide following domestic abuse.

“Time and again, there is widespread breakdown, especially within the legal system, to scrutinise these deaths with the gravity they deserve,” stated a co-director of a campaign group at a landmark meeting in London earlier this week.

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

Individual Accounts of Tragedy

One mother experienced the death of her child her 23-year-old daughter in spring 2023. Before her death, the young woman had informed her ex-boyfriend to police, providing a two-hour video interview as evidence about his conduct.

Following her passing, the individual was found guilty 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 violent and abusive relationship 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 existing, they just weren’t often being used to secure prosecutions.

“I decided it wasn’t a fresh legislation I needed as existing laws were in place, and after finding out how much my daughter had been failed before her taking her life by the police and numerous services, they had to fulfill their duties, and things needed to change,” she explained.

“More than four dozen relatives have contacted 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 CPS for years and getting no justice for their child or brother or sister and didn’t have a voice in case it affected inquiries that were not progressing.”

Further Heartbreaking Account

One mother’s daughter her 30-year-old daughter passed away in May 2017, in what she described as “the final act of violence” in a prolonged pattern of mistreatment.

“She was vibrant, she was loving,” she said. “She had great potential, and she was an amazing, really loving mum to her two children, and she died by suicide after 24 months in a partnership where she was systematically destroyed by her companion,” she explained.

“She endured physical assaults, she was psychologically tortured, she was controlled and dismantled piece by piece until she could not see a way forward. The man 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 move on. In truth, she didn’t just die by suicide. She was murdered. Her death was gradual and deliberately over a 24-month span, and when I approached the authorities, when I begged them to investigate what he had done to her, I was informed that there was no action that they could do.

“There was no investigation into her death. The domestic homicide review, which I had to fight for, required five years and had no impact. A lengthy coroner’s hearing determined self-inflicted death, notwithstanding huge evidence over a extremely distressing multi-day session of domestic abuse and shortcomings by various agencies.”

The parent informed the gathering that for eight years she has “been fighting a system that ignores what is right in front of it”.

She emphasized the suicide is homicide movement was vital “because when someone dies by suicide after they’ve suffered family violence, we have to investigate it for what it really is, which is murder.

“We must use the legislation we already possess properly and it is not occurring at the present, and we need to hold abusers accountable for pushing their targets to suicide.

“The statutes exist. We need the will, we need police to investigate properly. We need the Crown Prosecution Service to prosecute. We need the judiciary to recognize that verbal abuse and manipulation can kill just as much as hands and weapons.”

Government Reaction

At a second meeting in the House of Commons, led by a opposition politician, and attended by the safeguarding minister, the grieving families again shared their experiences.

A junior minister informed the assembly: “Such fatalities are often dismissed as if they were their own choice, they chose to do this, when, reality, these were the culmination of actually, somebody else’s violence, and these aren’t isolated stories.”

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

“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 matter of murder, but we acknowledge that it requires examination.”

Prosecution Service Statement

A representative for the legal body said: “Domestic abuse is a heinous crime and our prosecutors are actively advised to evaluate homicide allegations in suicide cases where there is a established background of domestic abuse or other manipulative conduct.

“We have in the past prosecuted a several individuals for causing the death of a partner they mistreated, encompassing in cases which are currently active.

“We are also working with law enforcement and other stakeholders to guarantee these types of crimes are clearly recognized – so that we can bring perpetrators to justice for the complete scope of their wrongdoings.”