Calls grow for suicides linked to domestic abuse to be treated as potential homicides

"That we don't even know how many women taken their lives because of men's violence is to our society's shame and reflects how little women's lives matter. Every woman who ends her own life will have taken many other steps to try to end the abuse before she reaches that point. We need to stop letting women down and make sure there are adequate routes to safety."

"I agree with the call that the police must fully investigate all suicides where domestic abuse is suspected, so that perpetrators can be held to account for their role. But we also need to see better training and guidance provided across the criminal justice system, so the severity of domestic abuse and coercive control is understood and the impact it has on victims' mental health is fully recognised."

Politicians and experts urged that suicides of people affected by domestic abuse be investigated as potential homicides and that police receive better training to understand abuse's full impact. Up to 1,500 suicides each year may be linked to domestic abuse, while official police figures recorded 98 last year, exceeding intimate partner homicides for the second consecutive year. Campaigners stated that failing to identify these deaths reflects societal neglect of women's safety and called for adequate routes to safety, thorough investigations so perpetrators are held accountable, and improved criminal justice guidance on coercive control and mental-health effects.

Read at www.theguardian.com