Suicides after domestic abuse are not rare – they are the ‘tip of the iceberg’

Domestic abuse plays a role in as many as a third of all female suicides, and campaigners are demanding better recognition of the ‘undeniable’ links between them.

The number of domestic abuse victims taking their own lives overtook the number killed by an intimate partner years ago but are only being measured now.

It is estimated that three women die each week from suicide due to experiencing domestic abuse.

But that figure is thought to merely be the ‘tip of the iceberg’, with estimates suggesting as many as 10 women end their lives in such circumstances every week.

That figure would represent one in three of all female suicides.

The major difficulty is these deaths are not being counted, meaning there is little sense of the real scale of the problem.

And if you are not counting something, the feeling tends to be that that something doesn’t count.

Campaigners and experts say the data needs to be properly collated to bring about change.

‘Domestic abuse is leading to more suicides than homicides, a fact supported by police, but the former are usually not being investigated anywhere near adequately and properly,’ said Frank Mullane, CEO of charity Advocacy After Fatal Domestic Abuse (AAFDA).

‘When the worst happens, everything hinges on the police investigation after suicide.

‘Police should treat all suicides, where there was known domestic abuse, as potential homicides.’

Bereaved families often face huge challenges in ensuring their loved one’s suicide is forensically investigated – first to ensure it is not a homicide staged to look like a suicide, and secondly to reveal any trail of domestic abuse which may have contributed to or caused it.

Mr Mullane said they will also need to ensure a domestic homicide review (DHR) is conducted to give police and other authorities the best chance to determine the full extent and effect of the abuse and to ensure the inquest is as effective as possible.

Inquests determine who the deceased was and when, where and how they died. In recent years, AAFDA – the only organisation offering specialist advocacy and support after all forms of fatal domestic abuse – has successfully been persuading coroners to wait for DHRs to ensure that true facts are known about the domestic abuse so they can reach the right conclusion.

The inquest into the death of Jessie Laverack in 2022 was the first to make the clear link between domestic abuse and suicide.

Last year, the family of Roisin Hunter Bennett successfully appealed to the High Court for her original inquest conclusion to be amended to acknowledge the fact she ended her life ‘due to an emotionally abusive relationship’.

Successful prosecutions for manslaughter after suspected domestic abuse-related suicides are vanishingly rare.

Ryan Wellings was the first defendant to be tried before a jury accused of the unlawful killing of his partner, Kiena Dawes, after her suicide following domestic violence.

He was cleared of manslaughter but found guilty of assault and coercive and controlling behaviour today after a six-week trial at Preston Crown Court.

Only one defendant has been convicted in such circumstances before, Nicholas Allen, who admitted before his trial in 2017 the manslaughter of his partner, Justene Reece.

Sarah Dangar, a violence against women and girls consultant who is undertaking a PhD on suicide and domestic abuse, said there is often a wealth of information at our disposal to help determine whether abuse has taken place before someone takes their own life.

She went on: ‘Research undertaken by myself and colleagues showed that these victims are not invisible, many are in plain sight of agencies.

‘However, what we found is a lack of understanding from professionals around domestic abuse, suicidality and indeed – and critically – the relationship between the two.

‘We also need to listen to the testimony of family and friends, who are a vital piece of the puzzle in understanding someone’s experience of domestic abuse.

‘Of course, we also need to listen to victim-survivors when they disclose abuse and self-harm and suicidality.

‘So often we assess risk from perpetrators but not risk to self – this is critical if we want to prevent domestic abuse-related deaths from suicide.’

She added: ‘Work by the Kent Suicide Prevention team highlighted a number of reasons why a woman might attempt to die by suicide in the context of domestic abuse, including not necessarily a desire to die but to escape the abuse she is being subjected to.’

Tim Woodhouse, Suicide Prevention Programme Manager at Kent County Council, said: ‘Every individual is different, but we have found some common themes as to why victims of domestic abuse may consider suicide.

‘Some believe that they are going to be murdered by their perpetrator so they attempt suicide as a way of controlling the way they die – even though they don’t want to stop living.

‘Others attempt suicide because they believe the lies that their perpetrator tells them, for example that their family hates them and they are worthless.

‘While others feel so isolated, trapped and helpless, that they simply can’t see another way of making the abuse stop.’

Research conducted by Refuge and the University of Warwick found that 96% of victims of intimate partner violence identified as suicidal suffered from feelings of hopelessness and despair – both of which are a key determinant for suicidality.

Julia Dwyer, Head of Services at Refuge, said ‘there is an undeniable link between domestic abuse and suicide’.

She added: ‘Despite the severe impact that domestic abuse can have on the mental wellbeing of those who experience it, deaths by suicide are not formally recognised as domestic abuse-related deaths.  

‘Improved recognition of how domestic abuse can directly cause trauma and suicide is paramount in ensuring as many victims and survivors as possible are able to get justice, and we will continue to campaign for a world where no more lives are taken by the crime that is domestic abuse.’

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