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

This move is essential because law enforcement are not doing enough to bring perpetrators accountable in instances of suicide following family violence.

“In case after case, there is systemic and structural failure, particularly within the legal system, to examine these deaths with the seriousness they deserve,” stated a leader of a campaign group during a landmark gathering in London earlier this week.

The meeting, organized by a organization running a “Self-Inflicted Death is Murder” campaign to advocate for change in the legal framework, brought together relatives who had lost loved ones to suicide following domestic abuse.

Personal Stories of Tragedy

Sharon Holland lost her daughter her 23-year-old daughter in spring 2023. Prior to her passing, Chloe had informed her former partner to authorities, providing a two-hour video interview as proof against him.

Following her passing, the individual was found guilty of coercive and controlling behavior and jailed for 41 months. He was later jailed for three years and seven months after a another victim came forward to disclose that she had been in a harmful partnership with him.

After Chloe’s death, the mother decided to campaign for a legal change to hold offenders accountable; yet she then realized that laws were already in place, they just weren’t often being used to secure prosecutions.

“I decided it was not a fresh legislation I needed as current statutes were already there, and after finding out how much my daughter had been let down before her death by the police and numerous services, they had 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 authorities and prosecution service for a long time and getting no justice for their child or sibling and could not speak out in case it affected inquiries that were not progressing.”

Another Tragic Case

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

“Hannah was energetic, she was caring,” she stated. “She was full of promise, and she was an amazing, really loving mother to her kids, and she took her own life after 24 months in a partnership where she was systematically destroyed by her partner,” she said.

“She endured physical assaults, she was psychologically tortured, she was controlled and broken down gradually until she was unable to envision a path ahead. The man who did this to her walked free, because we call it suicide, we conclude the case and we move on.

“But I could not move on,” she remarked, “and I haven’t been able to let go. Honestly, Hannah 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 inflicted upon her, I was informed that there was no action that they were able to take.

“No inquiry was conducted into her passing. The domestic violence fatality analysis, which I had to struggle to obtain, took five years and changed nothing. A lengthy coroner’s hearing found death by suicide, notwithstanding substantial proof over a extremely distressing multi-day session of domestic abuse and failings by various agencies.”

The parent told the meeting that for eight years she has “been fighting a system that refuses to see what is right in front of it”.

She said the suicide is homicide movement was critical “since when someone takes their own life after they’ve suffered family violence, we have to examine it for what it really is, which is murder.

“We need to apply the laws we already possess properly and it really isn’t happening at the moment, and we need to hold abusers accountable for driving their victims to death.

“We have the laws. We require determination, we need police to investigate properly. We need the prosecution authority to prosecute. We need judges to understand that verbal abuse and manipulation can kill just as much as physical force and arms.”

Political Response

At a follow-up gathering in the House of Commons, led by a Labour MP, and including the government official, the bereaved relatives again shared their experiences.

A junior minister told the meeting: “These deaths are often written off as if they were their own choice, they chose to do this, when, reality, these were the culmination of in fact, somebody else’s violence, and these are not isolated stories.”

“Our law is broken, we are aware,” she stated. “Especially around murder or manslaughter, it is piecemeal. It’s not written in statute anyway, it has been shaped with common law practices for centuries, and it is outdated, honestly, given the society we inhabit today.

“I’m not going to pretend that it’s going to be easy to resolve. It is extremely complicated and difficult, especially when you look at the matter of murder, but we acknowledge that it requires examination.”

Legal Authority Comment

A spokesperson for the legal body commented: “Domestic abuse is a heinous offense and our legal officers are actively advised to evaluate murder and manslaughter charges 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 number of defendants for causing the death of a companion they abused, encompassing in proceedings which are currently active.

“We are also working with police and other stakeholders to guarantee these types of crimes are well-understood – so that we can bring perpetrators to justice for the complete scope of their wrongdoings.”