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Each self-inflicted death in which the victim had experienced abuse at home should be treated as a potential homicide, according to calls from campaigners who aim to hold abusers accountable for the catastrophic consequences of their actions.

This step is essential because police and prosecutors are failing to bring perpetrators to justice in cases of self-inflicted death following domestic abuse.

“Time and again, there is systemic and structural failure, particularly within the criminal justice system, to examine these deaths with the seriousness they deserve,” remarked a co-director of a advocacy organization during a significant meeting in London earlier this week.

The meeting, organized by a group running a “Suicide is Homicide” campaign to advocate for change in the criminal justice system, brought together relatives who had lost loved ones to suicide following family violence.

Personal Stories of Tragedy

Sharon Holland experienced the death of her child Chloe Holland in spring 2023. Prior to her passing, Chloe had reported her ex-boyfriend to police, providing a lengthy recorded statement as evidence about his conduct.

After her death, the perpetrator was convicted of manipulative and domineering conduct and imprisoned for 41 months. He was later sentenced for three years and seven months after a another victim came forward to disclose that she had been in a violent and abusive relationship with him.

In the wake of her loss, the mother decided to campaign for a new law to bring perpetrators accountable; yet she then realized that laws were already in place, they just were rarely applied to secure prosecutions.

“I decided it was not a fresh legislation I required as current statutes were in place, and after learning how much my child had been let down before 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 found 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 police and CPS for years and receiving no resolution for their child or sibling and didn’t have a voice in case it affected inquiries that weren’t possibly going anywhere.”

Further Heartbreaking Account

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

“Hannah was vibrant, she was loving,” she said. “She was full of promise, and she was an exceptional, deeply devoted mother to her kids, and she took her own life after two years in a partnership where she was methodically broken down by her partner,” she said.

“She endured physical assaults, she was psychologically tortured, she was dominated and dismantled gradually until she could not see a way forward. The individual who did this to her walked free, because we label it self-inflicted death, we close the file and we proceed.

“Yet I was unable to continue,” she remarked, “and I have not managed to let go. Honestly, Hannah did not merely take her own life. She was killed. 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 inflicted upon her, I was told that there was nothing that they were able to take.

“No inquiry was conducted into her death. The domestic homicide review, 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 multi-day session of domestic abuse and failings by multiple services.”

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

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

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

“We have the laws. We require determination, we need police to investigate properly. We need the prosecution authority to prosecute. We need the judiciary to recognize that verbal abuse and manipulation can kill equally to hands and weapons.”

Political Response

At a follow-up gathering in the Parliament, led by a opposition politician, and attended by the safeguarding minister, the bereaved relatives again told their stories.

A parliamentary under-secretary informed the assembly: “These deaths are often written off as if they were their decision, they chose to do this, when, reality, these were the culmination of in fact, somebody else’s violence, and these are not isolated stories.”

“The legal system is flawed, we are aware,” she stated. “Particularly around homicide or unlawful killing, it is piecemeal. It lacks statutory basis anyway, it has been shaped with common law practices for centuries, and it is no longer fit for purpose, quite frankly, it’s the world we currently live in.

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

Legal Authority Comment

A spokesperson for the legal body commented: “Family violence is a heinous offense and our legal officers are actively advised to consider homicide allegations 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 mistreated, including in proceedings which are currently active.

“We are also working with law enforcement and other parties to ensure these types of crimes are well-understood – so that we can hold offenders accountable for the full extent of their crimes.”