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Each self-inflicted death in which the deceased had endured abuse at home should be considered a possible homicide, as per demands from campaigners who seek to make perpetrators responsible for the devastating consequences of their actions.

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

“Time and again, there is systemic and structural failure, especially within the legal system, to scrutinise these deaths with the seriousness they deserve,” stated a leader of a advocacy organization during a landmark gathering in Westminster earlier this week.

The meeting, arranged by a organization running a “Self-Inflicted Death is Murder” initiative to advocate for reform in the criminal justice system, brought together relatives who had suffered bereavement to self-inflicted death following domestic abuse.

Personal Stories of Tragedy

One mother experienced the death of her child Chloe Holland in spring 2023. Before her death, the young woman had informed her ex-boyfriend to police, submitting a lengthy recorded statement as evidence about his conduct.

After her death, the perpetrator was found guilty of coercive and controlling behavior and jailed for 41 months. He was later jailed for three years and seven months after a another victim came forward to disclose that she had been in a harmful partnership with him.

In the wake of her loss, the mother decided to campaign for a legal change to bring perpetrators accountable; however she then discovered that regulations were existing, they just weren’t often being used to secure prosecutions.

“I decided it wasn’t a fresh legislation I required as current statutes were in place, and after learning how much my daughter had been let down previous to her death by the authorities and numerous services, they had to do their job properly, and practices required reform,” she explained.

“More than four dozen relatives have contacted me and just a handful of us have had a guilty verdict,” she continued. “I was so shocked to see such a large number who have been battling the police and prosecution service for years and getting no justice for their offspring or sibling and didn’t have a voice in case it impacted investigations that were not progressing.”

Another Tragic Case

One mother’s child Hannah passed away in spring 2017, in what she described as “the final act of violence” in a prolonged pattern of mistreatment.

“Hannah was vibrant, she was caring,” she stated. “She was full of promise, and she was an amazing, deeply devoted mum to her two children, and she took her own life after 24 months in a partnership where she was systematically destroyed by her partner,” she explained.

“She was physically beaten, she was mentally tormented, she was controlled and broken down piece by piece until she was unable to envision a way forward. The man who caused this walked free, because we call it suicide, we conclude the case and we proceed.

“But I could not move on,” she remarked, “and I have not managed to move on. Honestly, 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 pleaded with them to investigate what he had done to her, I was informed that there was no action that they were able to take.

“No inquiry was conducted into her passing. The domestic violence fatality analysis, which I had to fight for, took five years and changed nothing. A four day inquest determined self-inflicted death, despite substantial proof over a extremely distressing four day period of domestic abuse and shortcomings by multiple services.”

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

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

“We need to apply the laws we currently have effectively 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 require determination, we need police to conduct thorough inquiries. We need the Crown Prosecution Service to take legal action. We need the judiciary to recognize that verbal abuse and manipulation can kill equally to physical force and arms.”

Political Response

At a follow-up gathering in the Parliament, chaired by a Labour MP, and including the government official, the grieving families again told their stories.

A junior minister told the meeting: “Such fatalities are often written off as if they were their own choice, they chose to do this, when, in truth, these were the culmination of actually, somebody else’s violence, and these are not rare incidents.”

“Our law is broken, we are aware,” she stated. “Especially around murder or unlawful killing, it is fragmented. It lacks statutory basis anyway, it has been developed with traditional legal customs for centuries, and it is no longer fit for purpose, honestly, given the society we currently live in.

“I will not claim that it’s going to be simple to resolve. It is extremely complicated and challenging, particularly when you consider the issue of murder, but we acknowledge that it needs to be looked at.”

Legal Authority Comment

A spokesperson for the legal body commented: “Domestic abuse is a heinous offense and our prosecutors are regularly instructed to evaluate murder and manslaughter charges in suicide cases where there is a established background of family violence or other controlling or coercive behavior.

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

“We are collaborating with law enforcement and other stakeholders to ensure these types of crimes are clearly recognized – so that we can hold offenders accountable for the complete scope of their wrongdoings.”