Domestic abusers are driving their victims to suicide, police have warned as they admitted to past mistakes and pledged to investigate more “hidden” cases of violence against women.
The concession came as a new report revealed that deaths by suicide among victims of domestic abuse surpassed the number of people killed by an intimate partner for a second year in a row.
The 1,012 domestic abuse-related deaths recorded in the past four years were described as a “grim milestone” by Louisa Rolfe, the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) lead for domestic abuse. She said it showed “how deeply ingrained violence against women and girls is in our communities”.
Of the 262 domestic abuse-related deaths recorded in England and Wales between the start of April 2023 and the end of March last year, 98 were classified as suspected victim suicide following domestic abuse (SVSDA).
The latest report by the Domestic Homicide Project, which is funded by the Home Office and led by the NPCC using live police records, also examined deaths where someone had fallen from a height.
Twenty-two such deaths were recorded across 13 forces during the four-year period. Of these, 36% were recorded as SVSDA and 27% as unexpected deaths.
Three of the women who died from a fall were pregnant at the time of their death, a proportion the report called “notably” high, considering that just five women in the entire four-year sample were pregnant.
The analysis was carried out in collaboration with the campaign group Killed Women, which has pushed for domestic abuse to be a key line of inquiry for police investigating any death of a woman who has fallen from a height.
In 2024, the Guardian’s Killed Women Count campaign reported on every woman allegedly killed by a man. At the end of the year, the number of deaths stood at 80.
Rolfe, a Metropolitan police assistant commissioner, told a briefing that she expected to see a rise in the number of manslaughter convictions as a result of a new “unexpected deaths policy”, which will prompt officers to consider whether domestic abuse could have been a contributing factor in an individual’s death.
She said there was a challenge in Britain’s “adversarial” legal system when it came to proving beyond a reasonable doubt that there was a causal link between domestic abuse and someone taking their own life.
“Of course, the burden of proof should sit with the prosecution,” she said. “But what’s really clear from the research and speaking with families is that in the past, in too many cases, investigators have missed obvious patterns of coercive, controlling behaviour.
“I don’t think police are missing homicides that are staged [to look like] suicide. However, it’s very clear that there is more for us to do to be really curious about what’s happened, to ensure that evidence at the scene of an incident is very thoroughly captured and explored.”
Rolfe also said that she wanted “to be able to answer victims’ families’ questions and be able to look them in the eye and say that every possible line of inquiry was followed”.
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She added: “I’ve met some incredibly impressive families who have felt they themselves have needed to investigate after their loved one’s death, and that’s wrong, because that’s our job, and we must do that.”
The report also revealed that 68% of victims and/or perpetrators of domestic abuse were known to the police or another agency, and called for better information-sharing to prevent future deaths.
In 54% of domestic homicides, the perpetrator was already known to the police, and in 90% of SVSDA cases involving a history of coercive and controlling behaviour, the suspect had previous contact with agencies other than the police.
The proportion of deaths that were killings by current or former partners remained at about 30% across the four-year period, the report found.
The 1,012 domestic abuse-related deaths recorded over the four years include 501 domestic homicides – 332 by current or ex-partners and 169 by another adult relative. The most commonly recorded risk factors in relation to suspects were mental ill health, a history of coercive and controlling behaviour, alcohol use and drug misuse.
Jess Phillips, the minister for safeguarding and violence against women and girls, said: “The better we understand the links between domestic abuse and homicides, suicides and unexpected deaths, the better equipped we are to prevent them from happening in the first place.”
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If you are experiencing domestic abuse you can contact the Refuge freephone 24-hour national domestic abuse helpline: 0808 2000 247 or visit www.nationaldahelpline.org.uk
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In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email [email protected] or [email protected]. In the US, you can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 988, chat on 988lifeline.org, or text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counsellor. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org
Source: theguardian.com
