The number of domestic abuse victims taking their own lives has surpassed the number killed by an intimate partner. Experts are calling for better data collection and investigations to address this crisis.
Domestic abuse plays a role in as many as a third of all female suicides, and campaigners are demanding better recognition of the ‘undeniable’ links between them. The number of domestic abuse victims taking their own lives overtook the number killed by an intimate partner years ago but are only being measured now. It is estimated that three women die each week from suicide due to experiencing domestic abuse.
But that figure is thought to merely be the ‘tip of the iceberg’, with estimates suggesting as many as 10 women end their lives in such circumstances every week. That figure would represent one in three of all female suicides. The major difficulty is these deaths are not being counted, meaning there is little sense of the real scale of the problem. And if you are not counting something, the feeling tends to be that that something doesn’t count. Campaigners and experts say the data needs to be properly collated to bring about change. ‘Domestic abuse is leading to more suicides than homicides, a fact supported by police, but the former are usually not being investigated anywhere near adequately and properly,’ said Frank Mullane, CEO of charity Advocacy After Fatal Domestic Abuse (AAFDA). ‘When the worst happens, everything hinges on the police investigation after suicide. ‘Police should treat all suicides, where there was known domestic abuse, as potential homicides.’ Bereaved families often face huge challenges in ensuring their loved one’s suicide is forensically investigated – first to ensure it is not a homicide staged to look like a suicide, and secondly to reveal any trail of domestic abuse which may have contributed to or caused it. Mr Mullane said they will also need to ensure a domestic homicide review (DHR) is conducted to give police and other authorities the best chance to determine the full extent and effect of the abuse and to ensure the inquest is as effective as possible. The inquest into the death of Jessie Laverack in 2022 was the first to make the clear link between domestic abuse and suicide. Last year, the family of Roisin Hunter Bennett successfully appealed to the High Court for her original inquest conclusion to be amended to acknowledge the fact she ended her life ‘due to an emotionally abusive relationship’. Successful prosecutions for manslaughter after suspected domestic abuse-related suicides are vanishingly rare. Ryan Wellings was the first defendant to be tried before a jury accused of the unlawful killing of his partner, Kiena Dawes, after her suicide following domestic violence. He was cleared of manslaughter but found guilty of assault and coercive and controlling behaviour today after a six-week trial at Preston Crown Court
DOMESTIC ABUSE SUICIDE WOMEN CAMPAIGNERS JUSTICE
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