First teenage suicide linked to domestic abuse recorded in England and Wales | Domestic violence
The first teenage girl was found to have been driven to kill herself after domestic violence, as police chiefs blamed violent pornography and “toxic” influencers for a rise in teenage abuse.
Suicides following domestic violence have outstripped murders for the third year in a row, according to the Domestic Homicide Project, which records deaths following domestic violence in England and Wales.
There were 347 deaths last year, including 150 from suicide and 125 from domestic homicide.
Across the five-year data set, victims were predominantly female (73%) and suspects were predominantly male (79%). Over five years, the project recorded 1,452 deaths in 1,410 incidents; of these, 641 were domestic homicides, 553 were suicides following domestic violence, 131 were unexpected deaths, 86 were child deaths, and 41 deaths were classified as “other.”
88 percent of suicides were due to a history of domestic violence known to police before the victim’s death. There were 85 more deaths last year than the previous year, but this was attributed to police forces having greater knowledge of domestic violence before murder and suicide.
“There is a small but encouraging increase in suicide charges following domestic violence,” said Louisa Rolfe, assistant police commissioner of the Metropolitan Police.
Stating that domestic violence incidents increased most rapidly in the 16 to 19 age group, Rolfe said that this year’s statistics included the first young person who was driven to kill himself after being a victim of domestic violence.
Rolfe said the increase was due to “the impact of pornography” and that young people were “more likely to access violent pornography”. He added that younger men are more likely than older men to experience choking during sex, which “features more commonly in online pornography.” She added: “There are toxic people on the internet whose attitudes towards women make me incredibly sad.”
These influencers “cause domestic violence to be seen as normal and expected in a relationship,” said Rolfe. Toxic influencers spout all this nonsense about men being superior.”
While the increase in reports of suicides due to domestic violence is often attributed to a broader understanding of the issue, Rolfe said this is not the case for young people, as child deaths are thoroughly investigated. He said domestic abuse among young people was “a growing situation”.
Stating that policy makers should “look at social media and age checks”, Rolfe added: “As a parent, the best resource I have found on the internet is the online child abuse protection service. There are very few infographic videos that children can watch about online harms and risks. I made my children watch these.”
Commenting on the increase in reports of suicides linked to domestic violence, Frank Mullane, chief executive of the charity Advocacy After Fatal Domestic Abuse, said: “We have been saying for some time that suicides are higher than murders. We still don’t know how many women are killed as a result of domestic violence, but it shows it is bigger than anyone knows.”
In England, the jury did not give a verdict of conviction after a suicide case that occurred after domestic violence and was accused of involuntary manslaughter. Mullane is calling for driving someone to suicide following domestic violence to be classed as a separate offense, in a bid to raise awareness among juries and the public.
Rolfe said domestic abusers in suicide and murder cases “seek to undermine the victims’ credibility with the police, friends and family. We want to see the wider society recognize the signs of domestic abuse.”
He said it was difficult to secure a conviction because “it’s difficult when the key witness is a victim who can’t provide evidence.” He added: “Abusers present themselves to society as the good guy, the stable guy. If the perpetrator is a clever, narcissistic manipulator, and our justice system is not designed for these types of cases.”
Mullane said the statistics were “a wake-up call for all senior leaders in all agencies” and that police should guard the scene of suicide after domestic violence incidents and treat them as potential homicides.
She added that coroners are often reluctant to consider domestic abuse following suicide and murder: “Coroner officers are mostly led by men and they enforce 800-year-old laws. A big part of my job is to challenge coroners.” He said police should be more careful about suspicious murders following domestic violence. “A bad investigation could disrupt the entire case. There needs to be much greater professional curiosity about unexplained deaths.”
The figures are likely an underestimate; Research by a suicide prevention program in Kent found that around a third of all suspected suicides in the area between 2018 and 2024 were influenced by domestic violence.
If figures in Kent reflect the national picture, this could mean up to 1,500 victims of domestic violence take their own lives each year; this number could be up to 15 times greater than previously thought.
