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Each self-inflicted death where the deceased had endured domestic violence must be considered a potential murder case, according to calls from advocates who seek to make perpetrators responsible for the catastrophic impact of their actions.

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

“In case after case, there is systemic and structural failure, particularly within the legal system, to scrutinise these fatalities with the seriousness they deserve,” remarked a co-director of a campaign group during a landmark meeting in London recently.

The assembly, arranged by a organization running a “Suicide is Homicide” initiative to fight for reform in the legal framework, united families who had suffered bereavement to self-inflicted death following family violence.

Personal Stories of Tragedy

One mother lost her daughter her 23-year-old daughter in March 2023. Before her death, the young woman had informed her former partner to police, providing a two-hour video interview as proof 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 an additional term 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 weren’t often being used to secure prosecutions.

“I decided it wasn’t a new law I required as current statutes were already there, and after finding out how much my daughter had been let down previous to her death by the authorities and many other agencies, they had to do their job properly, and practices required reform,” she explained.

“More than four dozen relatives have contacted me and only four of us have had a conviction,” she continued. “I was astonished to see so many families who have been fighting the police and prosecution service for a long time and getting no justice for their child or brother or sister and didn’t have a voice in case it impacted inquiries that weren’t possibly going anywhere.”

Another Tragic Case

Saskia Lightburn Richie’s child Hannah died in May 2017, in what she called “the ultimate abusive action” in a prolonged pattern of mistreatment.

“Hannah was energetic, she was loving,” she said. “She was full of promise, and she was an exceptional, really loving mother to her kids, and she took her own life after 24 months in a partnership where she was methodically broken down by her companion,” she explained.

“She endured physical assaults, she was mentally tormented, she was controlled and dismantled piece by piece until she was unable to envision a way forward. The individual who did this to her walked free, because we label it suicide, we close the file and we move on.

“But I could not move on,” she remarked, “and I haven’t been able to let go. In truth, she did not merely take her own life. She was killed. She was killed slowly and intentionally over a 24-month span, and when I went to the police, when I begged them to investigate what he had inflicted upon her, I was informed that there was nothing that they could do.

“There was no investigation into her passing. The domestic violence fatality analysis, 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 multi-day session of domestic abuse and shortcomings by multiple services.”

The mother informed the gathering that for eight years she has “struggled against a system that ignores what is right in front of it”.

She said the suicide is homicide movement was vital “because when someone dies by suicide after they’ve suffered domestic abuse, we have to examine it for what it truly represents, which is homicide.

“We must apply the laws we already possess properly and it really isn’t happening 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 take legal action. We need judges to recognize that verbal abuse and manipulation can kill equally to physical force and arms.”

Political Response

At a second meeting in the Parliament, led by a Labour MP, and including the government official, the grieving families again told their stories.

A junior minister informed the assembly: “These deaths are often written off as if they were their decision, they opted for this, when, in truth, these were the result of actually, somebody else’s violence, and these aren’t rare incidents.”

“The legal system is flawed, we are aware,” she stated. “Especially around homicide or manslaughter, it is piecemeal. It’s not written in statute anyway, it has been developed with common law practices for centuries, and it is no longer fit for purpose, quite frankly, given the society we inhabit today.

“I will not claim that it’s going to be simple to resolve. It is incredibly complex and challenging, particularly when you look at the matter of murder, but we recognize that it requires examination.”

Legal Authority Comment

A representative for the legal body said: “Domestic abuse is a terrible crime and our prosecutors are actively advised to evaluate murder and manslaughter charges in suicide cases where there is a known context of domestic abuse or other manipulative conduct.

“We have previously charged a number of defendants for causing the death of a companion they abused, encompassing in cases which are ongoing.

“We are collaborating with law enforcement and other stakeholders to guarantee these kinds of offences are clearly recognized – so that we can bring perpetrators to justice for the full extent of their crimes.”