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Each self-inflicted death where the victim had experienced domestic violence should be considered a possible murder case, according to calls from campaigners who aim to hold abusers responsible for the catastrophic consequences of their behavior.

This move is necessary because law enforcement are failing to bring perpetrators to justice in instances of self-inflicted death following family violence.

“In case after case, there is systemic and structural failure, especially within the legal system, to examine these fatalities with the gravity they warrant,” remarked a co-director of a advocacy organization during a landmark meeting in London recently.

The assembly, arranged by a organization running a “Suicide is Homicide” initiative to advocate for change in the legal framework, brought together relatives who had lost loved ones to suicide after domestic abuse.

Personal Stories of Loss

One mother experienced the death of her child her 23-year-old daughter in March 2023. Before her death, Chloe had informed her former partner to police, submitting a two-hour video interview as proof against him.

After her death, the individual was found guilty of coercive and controlling behavior and jailed for 41 months. He was subsequently jailed for an additional term after a second woman came forward to report that she had been in a harmful partnership with him.

After Chloe’s death, the mother decided to campaign for a new law to bring perpetrators to justice; however she then discovered that regulations were existing, they just were rarely applied to achieve convictions.

“I concluded it wasn’t a fresh legislation I needed as current statutes were in place, and after learning how much my child had been let down before her death by the police and many other agencies, they needed to do their job properly, and practices needed to change,” she explained.

“Over 47 families have found me and only four of us have had a guilty verdict,” she continued. “I was so shocked to see so many families who have been fighting the police and prosecution service for years and receiving no resolution for their child or brother or sister and could not speak out in case it impacted inquiries that weren’t possibly going anywhere.”

Another Tragic Case

Saskia Lightburn Richie’s daughter Hannah died in spring 2017, in what she described as “the final act of violence” in a campaign of abuse.

“Hannah was vibrant, she was loving,” she stated. “She had great potential, and she was an exceptional, deeply devoted mother to her two children, and she died by suicide after two years in a partnership where she was systematically destroyed by her companion,” she said.

“She was physically beaten, she was psychologically tortured, she was dominated and broken down gradually 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.

“But I could not move on,” she said, “and I have not managed to let go. In truth, she did not merely take her own life. She was killed. Her death was gradual and intentionally over a two year period, and when I went to the police, when I pleaded with them to investigate what he had done to her, I was told that there was no action that they were able to take.

“No inquiry was conducted into her passing. The domestic homicide review, which I had to fight for, required five years and changed nothing. A four day inquest determined self-inflicted death, notwithstanding substantial proof over a very traumatic multi-day session of domestic abuse and shortcomings by various agencies.”

The parent informed the gathering that for a decade she has “struggled against a system that refuses to see what is obvious”.

She emphasized the suicide is homicide campaign was vital “since when an individual takes their own life after they’ve suffered family violence, we have to examine it for what it truly represents, which is homicide.

“We need to use the legislation we currently have properly 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 need the will, we need police to conduct thorough inquiries. We need the prosecution authority to prosecute. We need the judiciary to understand that words and control can kill just as much as physical force and arms.”

Political Response

At a second meeting in the Parliament, chaired by a opposition politician, and attended by the government official, the grieving families again shared their experiences.

A parliamentary under-secretary told the meeting: “These deaths are often dismissed as if they were their decision, they chose to do this, when, reality, these were the culmination of in fact, another person’s abuse, and these aren’t isolated stories.”

“Our law is broken, we are aware,” she said. “Especially around homicide or manslaughter, it is piecemeal. It’s not written in statute anyway, it has been developed with traditional legal customs for generations, 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 fix. It is incredibly complex and challenging, especially when you consider the matter of homicide, but we acknowledge that it requires examination.”

Legal Authority Comment

A spokesperson for the legal body commented: “Family violence is a terrible crime and our legal officers are regularly instructed to consider murder and manslaughter charges in suicide cases where there is a established background of domestic abuse or other controlling or coercive behavior.

“We have previously charged a several individuals for causing the death of a partner they mistreated, encompassing in proceedings which are currently active.

“We are collaborating with police and other parties to ensure these kinds of offences are clearly recognized – so that we can hold offenders accountable for the complete scope of their wrongdoings.”