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Each self-inflicted death where the deceased had experienced domestic violence must be considered a potential murder case, according to calls from campaigners who seek to hold abusers accountable for the devastating impact of their behavior.

This move is essential because police and prosecutors are failing to bring perpetrators accountable in cases of suicide following domestic abuse.

“In case after case, there is widespread breakdown, especially within the legal system, to examine these deaths with the seriousness they deserve,” stated a leader of a advocacy organization during a landmark meeting in Westminster earlier this week.

The meeting, arranged by a organization leading a “Self-Inflicted Death is Murder” initiative to advocate for reform in the legal framework, brought together relatives who had suffered bereavement to suicide following family violence.

Individual Accounts of Tragedy

One mother lost her daughter Chloe Holland in March 2023. Prior to her passing, Chloe had reported her ex-boyfriend to authorities, submitting a lengthy recorded statement as evidence against him.

After her death, the perpetrator was found guilty of coercive and controlling behavior and imprisoned for over three years. He was later jailed for an additional term after a another victim came forward to report that she had been in a violent and abusive relationship with him.

In the wake of her loss, the parent decided to campaign for a legal change to bring perpetrators accountable; yet she then discovered that regulations were existing, they just weren’t often being used to achieve convictions.

“I decided it wasn’t a fresh legislation I needed as existing laws were already there, and after learning how much my daughter had been failed previous to her death by the police and numerous services, they needed to do their job properly, and practices needed to change,” she said.

“More than four dozen relatives have contacted me and only four of us have had a conviction,” 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 receiving no resolution for their child or sibling and didn’t have a voice in case it affected inquiries that weren’t possibly going anywhere.”

Further Heartbreaking Account

One mother’s child her 30-year-old daughter passed away in spring 2017, in what she called “the final act of violence” in a campaign of abuse.

“Hannah was energetic, she was loving,” she stated. “She had great potential, and she was an exceptional, deeply devoted mother to her kids, and she died by suicide after 24 months in a relationship where she was methodically broken down by her partner,” she said.

“She was physically beaten, she was psychologically tortured, she was dominated and broken down piece by piece until she could not see a path ahead. The individual who caused this walked free, because we call it suicide, we close the file and we move on.

“But I could not move on,” she said, “and I have not managed to let go. In truth, Hannah didn’t just die by suicide. She was killed. Her death was gradual and deliberately over a two year period, and when I went to the police, when I begged them to investigate what he had inflicted upon her, I was told that there was no action that they could do.

“No inquiry was conducted into her passing. The domestic violence fatality analysis, which I had to struggle to obtain, required five years and had no impact. A four day inquest determined self-inflicted death, despite huge evidence over a extremely distressing four day period of family violence and failings by multiple services.”

The mother informed the gathering that for eight years she has “been fighting a establishment that ignores what is obvious”.

She said the self-inflicted death is murder campaign was vital “because when someone dies by suicide after they’ve suffered family violence, we have to examine it for what it really is, which is homicide.

“We must use the legislation we already possess properly and it is not occurring at the moment, and we need to make perpetrators responsible for driving their victims to death.

“The statutes exist. We require determination, we need law enforcement to investigate properly. We need the Crown Prosecution Service to take legal action. We need judges to recognize that words and control can cause death just as much as hands and weapons.”

Political Response

At a second meeting in the Parliament, chaired by a Labour MP, and including the government official, the grieving families again shared their experiences.

A parliamentary under-secretary informed the assembly: “Such fatalities are often dismissed as if they were their decision, they opted for this, when, reality, these were the result of actually, another person’s abuse, and these aren’t isolated stories.”

“Our law is broken, we know that,” she stated. “Particularly around homicide or unlawful killing, it is fragmented. It lacks statutory basis regardless, it has been shaped with common law practices for centuries, and it is no longer fit for purpose, quite frankly, it’s the world we inhabit today.

“I will not claim that it’s going to be easy to fix. It is extremely complicated and challenging, especially when you look at the issue of homicide, but we recognize that it requires examination.”

Legal Authority Comment

A spokesperson for the legal body said: “Family violence is a terrible crime and our legal officers are actively advised to consider murder and manslaughter charges in self-inflicted death instances where there is a known context of family violence or other manipulative conduct.

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

“We are collaborating with police and other parties to ensure these kinds of offences are well-understood – so that we can hold offenders accountable for the complete scope of their wrongdoings.”