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Each self-inflicted death in which the victim had experienced domestic violence must be treated as a possible homicide, according to demands from campaigners who aim to make perpetrators accountable for the devastating impact of their actions.

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

“Time and again, there is systemic and structural failure, particularly within the criminal justice system, to examine these deaths with the seriousness they warrant,” remarked a co-director of a advocacy organization during a significant meeting in London recently.

The assembly, arranged by a organization leading a “Self-Inflicted Death is Murder” campaign to fight for reform in the criminal justice system, brought together families who had lost loved ones to self-inflicted death after domestic abuse.

Individual Accounts of Loss

One mother lost her daughter her 23-year-old daughter in March 2023. Before her death, the young woman had reported her former partner to police, providing a two-hour video interview as proof against him.

Following her passing, the individual was convicted of manipulative and domineering conduct 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 violent and abusive relationship with him.

In the wake of her loss, the mother chose to advocate for a legal change to bring perpetrators accountable; yet she then realized that regulations were existing, 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 previous to her death by the authorities and many other agencies, they had to do their job properly, and things required reform,” she said.

“Over 47 families have found me and only four of us have had a conviction,” she continued. “I was astonished to see such a large number who have been battling the police and CPS for a long time and getting no justice for their offspring or brother or sister and could not speak out in case it affected inquiries that weren’t possibly going anywhere.”

Further Heartbreaking Account

Saskia Lightburn Richie’s daughter Hannah died in spring 2017, in what she described as “the final act of violence” in a prolonged pattern of mistreatment.

“Hannah was energetic, she was loving,” she said. “She had great potential, and she was an exceptional, really loving mother to her kids, and she died by suicide after two years in a partnership where she was methodically broken down by her partner,” she explained.

“She was physically beaten, she was mentally tormented, she was controlled and broken down gradually until she could not see a way forward. The man who did this to her went unpunished, because we label it self-inflicted death, we conclude the case and we move on.

“But I could not move on,” she said, “and I haven’t been able to let go. In truth, she didn’t just die by suicide. She was killed. Her death was gradual and intentionally over a 24-month span, and when I approached the authorities, when I pleaded with them to investigate what he had inflicted upon her, I was informed that there was no action that they could do.

“There was no investigation into her death. The domestic homicide review, which I had to fight for, required five years and had no impact. A lengthy coroner’s hearing found death by suicide, despite substantial proof over a very traumatic multi-day session of domestic abuse and shortcomings by multiple services.”

The mother informed the gathering that for eight years she has “been fighting a establishment that ignores what is right in front of it”.

She said the self-inflicted death is murder movement was vital “because when an individual takes their own life after they’ve endured family violence, we have to examine it for what it really is, which is murder.

“We must apply the laws we already possess effectively and it is not occurring at the moment, and we need to hold abusers accountable for driving their victims to death.

“The statutes exist. We need the will, we need law enforcement to investigate properly. We need the Crown Prosecution Service to take legal action. We need the judiciary to understand that words and control can kill just as much as hands and weapons.”

Government Reaction

At a follow-up gathering in the House of Commons, led by a Labour MP, and including the government official, the grieving families again told their stories.

A junior minister told the meeting: “Such fatalities are often dismissed as if they were their own choice, they chose to do this, when, reality, these were the result of in fact, another person’s abuse, and these are not rare incidents.”

“The legal system is flawed, we know that,” she stated. “Especially around homicide or manslaughter, it is fragmented. It’s not written in statute regardless, it has been developed with common law practices for centuries, and it is outdated, quite frankly, given the society we currently live in.

“I will not claim that it’s going to be easy to resolve. It is incredibly complex and difficult, particularly when you look at the matter of murder, but we recognize that it requires examination.”

Prosecution Service Statement

A representative for the legal body said: “Family violence is a terrible offense and our legal officers are regularly instructed to evaluate homicide allegations in suicide cases where there is a established background of domestic abuse or other controlling or coercive behavior.

“We have in the past prosecuted a number of defendants for causing the death of a companion they mistreated, including in cases which are ongoing.

“We are also working with police and other parties to ensure these types of crimes are clearly recognized – so that we can bring perpetrators accountable for the full extent of their wrongdoings.”