Economic abuse by a partner contributes to one death every 19 days, report finds | Domestic abuse suicide

Financial abuse by a partner leads to a death by murder or suicide every 19 days, a charity has found.

Surviving Economic Abuse (Deniz) said economic abuse from an intimate partner was a factor in more than half of deaths due to domestic abuse but was often misunderstood or overlooked.

The charity analyzed 454 domestic homicide investigations (DHRs) carried out between 2012 and 2024 where a person died from murder or suicide as a result of domestic violence.

In 231 DHRs, renamed domestic violence death investigations, the victim had suffered economic abuse from a current or former partner; This was the equivalent of one victim of economic abuse dying by murder or suicide every 19 days.

Sam Smethers, Sea’s chief executive, said: “We think this is probably an underreporting of prevalence because some of these reports do not actually highlight economic abuse. But even so, more than half of these cases show how common economic abuse is, alongside other types of abuse, and how serious it is.”

“We also know that economic abuse is what prevents victims from escaping a dangerous situation, so that’s what keeps them tied to their abuser. That’s why it’s such a dangerous form of abuse and continues long after the victim has escaped the perpetrator.”

The charity’s report, Hidden Risk, Deadly Consequences: Economic Abuse in Domestic Homicide Investigations, found that agencies often miss opportunities to identify the risks associated with economic abuse. Perpetrators used a variety of methods to control their partners financially, such as limiting their access to money or forcing them into debt.

Sea found that less than half of panels investigating domestic homicides recognized economic abuse.

“I think it’s worrying for us because it’s a sign that there’s actually a lot more work that needs to be done to make sure that economic abuse is detected, that people understand what it is, can recognize the signs and then potentially intervene to stop the abuse and support surviving victims,” Smethers said.

Anna* and her children have been without a stable home since 2008 due to abuse by her ex-partner. “We are homeless right now,” he said. “We have no chance of finding a place to live.”

Her ex-partner stole all her money, sold her belongings, prevented her from working, claimed all the benefits the family was entitled to and made malicious claims about her to HMRC.

“I didn’t have access to money to buy food for myself and my children,” said Anna, who had to rely on handouts. “He would buy himself the best of everything and the stuff he provided us with was really poor quality. We basically ate eggs and I still do that, it’s something that has stayed with me.””

Although she has now escaped the relationship, the abuse had long-lasting and far-reaching financial consequences.

“You can never escape by controlling you financially and economically, it never ends,” he said. “For me, it will never end because these are very intentional acts that abusers take.”

Sea made a number of recommendations following the report, including that economic abuse be included in the government’s new guidance on best practice for domestic abuse risk management and that professionals and heads of domestic homicide investigations be trained to recognize economic abuse.

Smethers said: “We really need to take a coherent and scaled approach to this because it is such a serious crime. 4.2 million women experience this every year and we see in this report how serious it is.”

Anna said she was “not at all surprised” by the report’s findings because she had previously considered taking her own life. She said it’s often harder to deal with abuse because “many women “I don’t want to talk about it because it feels embarrassing.”

Frank Mullane, chief executive of Advocacy After Fatal Domestic Abuse, said the report “reveals significant gaps in professionals’ knowledge of economic abuse”. He was the victim of financial abuse when his sister was murdered by her husband more than 20 years ago.

Mullane said: “We didn’t have the language to name it or a shared understanding of its impact. Ignorance allows abuse to thrive and I hope professionals will use these recommendations to ensure greater recognition and better practice of economic abuse.”

* Anna’s name has been changed