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Each self-inflicted death in which the deceased had experienced abuse at home should be considered a potential homicide, as per demands from campaigners who aim to make perpetrators responsible for the devastating 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 family violence.

“Time and again, there is systemic and structural failure, especially within the legal system, to scrutinise these deaths with the seriousness they deserve,” remarked a co-director of a campaign group at a significant meeting in Westminster recently.

The meeting, arranged by a organization leading a “Self-Inflicted Death is Murder” initiative to advocate for change in the legal framework, brought together families who had suffered bereavement to self-inflicted death after domestic abuse.

Personal Stories of Tragedy

One mother lost her daughter Chloe Holland in spring 2023. Before her death, Chloe had reported her former partner to authorities, providing a two-hour video interview as proof about his conduct.

Following her passing, the individual was found guilty of coercive and controlling behavior and imprisoned 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 harmful partnership with him.

In the wake of her loss, the parent chose to advocate for a legal change to hold offenders to justice; yet she then discovered that laws were already in place, they just weren’t often being used to achieve convictions.

“I concluded it wasn’t a fresh legislation I needed as current statutes were already there, 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 fulfill their duties, and things required reform,” she said.

“More than four dozen relatives have contacted me and only four of us have had a guilty verdict,” she added. “I was astonished to see so many families who have been battling the authorities and prosecution service for years and receiving no resolution for their offspring or sibling and could not speak out in case it affected inquiries that weren’t possibly going anywhere.”

Another Tragic Case

One mother’s daughter her 30-year-old daughter passed away in spring 2017, in what she called “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 two children, and she died by suicide after two years in a relationship where she was systematically destroyed by her companion,” she said.

“She endured physical assaults, she was psychologically tortured, she was controlled and broken down piece by piece until she could not see a path ahead. The individual who caused this went unpunished, because we call it self-inflicted death, we conclude the case and we proceed.

“Yet I was unable to continue,” she said, “and I haven’t been able to let go. Honestly, Hannah did not merely take her own life. She was murdered. Her death was gradual and deliberately over a two year period, 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 were able to take.

“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 four day inquest found death by suicide, notwithstanding substantial proof over a very traumatic four day period of domestic abuse and shortcomings by various agencies.”

The mother told the meeting that for eight years she has “struggled against a system that ignores what is obvious”.

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

“We need to use the legislation we already possess effectively and it really isn’t happening 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 law enforcement to investigate properly. We need the Crown Prosecution Service to take legal action. We need judges to understand that words and control can kill equally to hands and weapons.”

Government Reaction

At a second meeting in the Parliament, chaired 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 written off as if they were their own choice, they chose to do this, when, reality, these were the result of in fact, somebody else’s violence, and these aren’t isolated stories.”

“Our law is broken, we are aware,” she said. “Particularly around homicide or manslaughter, it is fragmented. It lacks statutory basis regardless, it has been developed with traditional legal customs for generations, and it is no longer fit for purpose, quite frankly, it’s the world we inhabit today.

“I’m not going to pretend that it’s going to be simple to fix. It is incredibly complex and challenging, particularly when you look at the matter of homicide, but we recognize that it needs to be looked at.”

Legal Authority Comment

A spokesperson for the legal body commented: “Family violence is a terrible offense and our prosecutors are regularly instructed to evaluate homicide allegations in self-inflicted death instances where there is a known context of domestic abuse or other manipulative conduct.

“We have in the past prosecuted a several individuals for causing the death of a companion they mistreated, including in proceedings which are currently active.

“We are collaborating with police and other parties to guarantee these types of crimes are clearly recognized – so that we can bring perpetrators to justice for the complete scope of their crimes.”