Calls grow for suicides linked to domestic abuse to be treated as potential homicides | Domestic abuse suicide
Politicians and experts have weighed in on calls for suicides to be investigated as potential homicides in cases where a person who takes their own life is affected by domestic violence.
They also called for better training for police so they understand the full impact of domestic violence and move away from a “tick box approach” to suicides.
Earlier this week, the Guardian revealed that the number of suicides linked to domestic violence is likely under-reported, with as many as 1,500 victims each year.
Official figures compiled by the National Police Chiefs’ Council show the figure was 98 for last year, but it still exceeded the number of intimate partner murders for the second year in a row.
Campaigner Karen Ingala Smith said: “The fact that we don’t even know how many women have lost their lives to male violence is a shame for our society and reflects how little women’s lives matter.”
“Any woman who takes her own life will have taken many steps to end the abuse before she gets to that point. We must stop failing women and ensure there are adequate pathways to safety,” she said.
Dame Nicole Jacobs, domestic violence commissioner for England and Wales, said: “It is unacceptable that victims of domestic violence are failing and bereaved families are left to fight for justice because the police fail to ask the right questions when an unexpected death occurs.”
“I agree with the call that police should thoroughly investigate all suicides where domestic abuse is suspected so that perpetrators can be held accountable for their role. But we also need better training and guidance across the criminal justice system to ensure the seriousness of domestic abuse and coercive control is recognized and the impact this can have on the mental health of victims.”
“No perpetrator should escape justice because we did not look closely enough,” he added.
Vera Baird KC, a former MP and former victims’ commissioner for England and Wales, said suicides should “absolutely” be investigated as murders, “both in terms of driving someone to suicide, which is clearly manslaughter, or where domestic abuse escalates, which often escalates to the point where the man helps the man kill himself.”
“There is no question that these should be on the minds of anyone facing an unexpected death,” he added.
“And let’s not forget, sometimes these aren’t even suicides. They are murders,” Baird said. “Police need to have an investigative approach rather than a tick-box approach. It’s outrageous that there is a tick-box approach in the world of domestic violence.”
Jess Phillips, minister for protection and violence against women and girls, said: “Every life lost to domestic violence is a tragedy and we must do more to prevent it.
“Our violence against women and girls strategy, which we launched in December, sets out what we will do to tackle the causes of these horrific crimes and strengthen our response to all deaths due to domestic violence.
“We are also funding the domestic homicide project to collect information on domestic violence-related deaths, including suicides, from all police forces to improve our understanding of this issue.”
Domestic violence charity Women’s Aid said the findings were “a shocking glimpse into the reality for many families who lose mothers, daughters and sisters to domestic abuse, but are often denied justice because their deaths are not thought to be directly at the hands of the perpetrator.”
Sarah Davidge, the charity’s head of membership, research and evaluation, said “official figures significantly understate the truth behind the impact of domestic abuse” and added: “It is imperative to improve understanding of the nature and impact of coercive and controlling behavior in all organizations that come into contact with survivors through training such as the one offered by Women’s Aid.”
There is support from across the political spectrum to increase the number of prosecutions in such cases, and the government has allocated funding to improve data on lives lost to domestic abuse, including suicide.
“It is absolutely devastating that more than a thousand suicides due to domestic violence go unreported each year,” said Marie Goldman, the Liberal Democrats’ spokesperson for women and equality.
“Systems and laws intended to protect victims often fail. We need wholesale changes to ensure these horrific crimes do not go unpunished and that victims and their loved ones finally receive justice.
“The Liberal Democrats will press the government to ensure that all suicides from suspected domestic violence are investigated as possible murders from the outset,” he added, “so that evidence is preserved and abusers are finally held to account.”
Mims Davies MP, the shadow minister for women, said it was “vital that government departments work collectively and urgently to tackle and ultimately prevent this escalating crisis”.
“Ensuring officers have full authority to access and control the Police National Database (PND) will be an important first step, following previous reports that officers have been unable to review records relating to perpetrators of domestic abuse,” he added.
