Suicide is Homicide.

"No one is stopping and asking why this happened. We shouldn't have to fight so hard for some justice when what happened is this obvious."

These are the words of Rita whose sister Jasmine died in January 2023 against a history of ongoing violence and coercive control by her partner. Throughout her relationship with him, Jasmine was subjected to a catalogue of escalating abuse that included severe sexual violence involving rape and attempted strangulation, and she reported him repeatedly to the police, telling them that he was extremely dangerous. Matters came to a head when he told Jasmine to “go hang herself to make everyone’s life better”.  She was found hanging in her home the next day, but there was a complete failure by the police and inquest system to investigate her death as a domestic abuse related suicide.

It is estimated that three women die each week from suicide due to experiencing domestic abuse, and the numbers appear to be rising. According to the latest figures released by the Domestic Homicide Project funded by the Home Office and led by the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) using live police records – there were 1,012 domestic abuse-related deaths (male and female) in England and Wales between 2020 and 2024, of which 354 were suspected suicides compared to 332 recorded homicides.  Over the 12 months from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024, there were 98 suspected suicides compared to 80 recorded homicides.  Over the preceding 12 months, there were 93 suspected suicides compared to 83 recorded homicides.The pattern is clear: for the first time, death by suicide appears to have overtaken intimate partner homicides.

Bereaved families from diverse backgrounds have come together with Project Resist to build a campaign demanding justice for loved ones who have taken their lives in the context of domestic abuse (including coercive and controlling behaviour). Testimonies from the families highlight systemic and ongoing failures on the part of the police, the wider criminal justice system and other agencies: failures to investigate their loved ones’ domestic abuse related suicides as potential homicides, following failures to adequately protect and support them whilst alive.

The families’ testimonies reveal disturbing themes of indifference and neglect on the part of the police in their investigations following a domestic abuse related suicide.

Two related issues have clearly emerged: a failure to investigate wider histories of domestic abuse because of a failure to recognise underlying dynamics of abuse and coercive control; and a consequent failure to conduct a thorough investigation of a death as a potential homicide, leading to a failure to consider charges of manslaughter where appropriate.

At best families, of both female and male victims, may see charges of coercive control brought against the abusers, often belatedly following inquests: charges which fail to reflect the gravity of the offending behaviour and its impact on victims.

Families often have to wait for years for the state to account for such failures, and it is usually too late by then to put them right.

The real issue is not any lack of police powers or gaps in the criminal law.  As acknowledged by the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead on domestic abuse - Assistant Commissioner Louisa Rolfe of the Metropolitan Police - investigators miss obvious patterns of coercive and controlling behaviour in too many cases: “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.”

This recognition of the prevalence of police mishandling of domestic abuse-related suicides is welcome but it is not enough.  Lessons learnt from countless Domestic Homicide Reviews tell us that the failure of the police to be ‘ really curious about what’s happened’ is not the whole problem.  Rather, we are faced with serious structural and systemic issues around responses to domestic abuse and coercive control.

Historically, the specific form of violence against women and men seen in cases of domestic abuse related suicides has always been ignored or inadequately addressed by the criminal justice system because of entrenched indifference, neglect and a culture of refusal to investigate on the part of the police.  As a result, bereaved families have had to use the inquest system in order to seek some semblance of scrutiny of the circumstances in which their loved ones may have died.  However, even that is subject to sound legal advice and representation, and the quality of scrutiny brought to bear can vary considerably: all too often, a coroner will restrict the remit of the inquest narrowly, with the focus on how and not why the victims took their lives.

Inquest outcomes concerning the tragic deaths of Jessica Laverack (2022), Roisin Hunter Bennett (2022) and Kellie Sutton (2024) - where a ground breaking conclusion of unlawful killing was returned – and the recent case of Keina Dawes (2025) have done much to bring to recent public attention, not only the links between suicide and domestic abuse, but also the fact that many bereaved families continue to feel badly let down by the criminal justice system.

Too many victims and their families are seriously failed and will continue to be failed unless the demands of this campaign are properly addressed.

• A clear and unequivocal recognition in police policy and procedural guidance that suicide in the context of any evidence of domestic abuse may be a potential homicide, i.e. a presumption that any such suicide should be investigated as a potential homicide from the outset until and unless there is clear evidence to rebut that presumption.
• A recognition to a similar effect in CPS policy and guidance in order to ensure that police investigating any such case of suicide receive appropriate support from prosecutors.
• A recognition in sentencing guidelines that, upon conviction of anyone accused of homicide in any such case of suicide, the context of domestic abuse (including coercive and controlling behaviour) should be seen as a particularly egregious aggravating factor attracting an appropriate sentence.
• An explicit commitment in policy and guidance to ensure that links between suicide and domestic abuse are recognised and addressed consistently across the statutory and specialist sectors involved in multi-agency responses to any such case of suicide.
• An educational preventative program across the statutory and specialist sectors to ensure an understanding of the high-risk indictors of suicidal ideation and the concrete steps required to protect a potential victim of such suicide.
• Non-means tested legal aid for the bereaved family in any such case of suicide to ensure they have access to free legal advice and support to help navigate their way through the complex processes of the police investigation and any ensuing criminal prosecution and/or inquest.
• The adequate provision of specialist and holistic advocacy and counselling services to support vulnerable adults to exit from abuse safely and to rebuild their lives free from fear and harm.

This campaign is supported by the following families whose loved ones took their own lives having experienced domestic abuse and coercive control:

1. Sharon Holland (mother of Chloe Holland, date of death 6.3.23)
2. Rachel Whiting (sister of Sarah Jane Whiting, date of death 12.4.23)
3. Debbie Hood (mother of Kerry Louise Hensby, date of death 9.8.20)
4. Pamela Taylor (mother of Kellie Marie Sutton, date of death 26.8.17)
5. Phyllis Daly (mother of Jessica Laverack, date of death 2.2.18)
6. Asha Jackson (sister of Zoe McDonald, date of death 7.1.23)
7. Sinead Gibson (mother of Diva Gibson, date of death 10/05/2020)
8. Teresa Hunter (mother of Matthew Dudley Hunter, date of death 16.10.21)
9. Philippa (sister of Richard Barker, date of death 2.9.19)
10. Nikki Crookes (mother of Louie Powell, date of death 21.11.21)
11. Margaret Hunter (mother of Roisin Hunter Bennett, date of death 16.3.22)
12. Jackie (mother of Louise, date of death 06.11.2018)
13. Sarah Wingrove (sister of Leanne Allen, date of death 23.4.23)
14. Sharon Walker (mother of Rachel Louise Walker, date of death 15.3.20)
15. Andi Wilkinson (mother of Kara-Leigh Wilkinson, date of death 5.8.23)
16. Helen Simpson (mother of Demi Hannaway, date of death 13.5.21)
17. Donna Gibney (mother of Ashleigh Louise Inskip, date of death 06.07.2021)

This Campaign is Supported by:

1. Advance
2. Angelou Centre
3. Apna Haq
4. Ashiana Network
5. Asian Women’s Resource Centre
6. Aurora New Dawn
7. Basira
8. Centre for Women’s Justice
9. Changing Pathways
10. Createful (Portsmouth)
11. Cris McCurley:  Solicitor - Ben Hoare Bell Solicitors
12. Crossroads Derbyshire
13. Dr Jane Krishnadas; Convenor of CLOCK (Community Legal Outreach Collaboration, Keele), Senior Lecturer in Law, Keele University.
14. East Surrey Domestic Abuse Services
15. Gilgal
16. Hull Sisters
17. Humraaz
18. IDAS
19. Idle Women
20. IKWRO
21. Independent Choices Great Manchester
22. Jewish Womens Aid
23. Juno Women’s Aid
24. Karma Nirvana
25. Key Charity
26. Leeds Women’s Aid
27. Lotus Domestic Abuse Recovery Programme
28. Men’s Share Listening Group - Crawley
29. Mercia Women’s Aid
30. Middle Eastern Women and Society Organisation – MEWSO
31. My CWA Cheshire
32. My Sisters Place
33. My Sisters’ House Women’s Centre
34. NDAS (Northumberland Domestic Abuse Service)
35. NE Lincolnshire Women’s Aid
36. Oasis Domestic Abuse Service
37. On Eggshells
38. One Law for All and CEMB
39. Pathway Project Lichfield
40. Professor Mary Davis
41. Raggi Kotak Barrister, One Pump Court Chambers
42. Rahila Sharif, Ending VAWG Consultant
43. Rise UK
44. Rising Sun Domestic Violence and Abuse Service
45. Rochdale Women’s Welfare Association (RWWA)
46. Safe in Sussex
47. Safety4Sisters North West
48. Saheli
49. Salford Women’s Aid
50. Sangini
51. SATEDA
52. Sheffield Women’s Aid
53. Solace Women’s Aid
54. Southall Black Sisters
55. Staffordshire Women’s Aid
56. Staying Put
57. Stepping Stones Luton
58. Sutton Women’s Centre
59. The First Step
60. The Pankhurst Trust incorporating Manchester Women’s Aid
61. Tim Woodhouse, Churchill Fellow, Suicide Prevention Researcher
62. Tina’s Haven
63. Trafford Domestic Abuse Service
64. Ubuntu Women Shelter
65. UK Ex Female Prisoner’s Project
66. Vida Sheffield
67. We are Survivors
68. Wearside Women in Need
69. Woman’s Trust
70. Women’s Budget Group
71. Women’s Resource Centre
72. Wycombe Women’s Aid
73. Yasmin Rehman, Feminist Human Rights Activist
74. Your Sanctuary

Following our successful launch of the Suicide is Homicide campaign in October 2025, Project Resist in partnership with Sharon Holland (Her Name was Chloe Holland Campaign), together with affected families, have been continuing to engage with policy-makers to drive change.

Changes in policing and prosecution are needed in order to ensure justice for those driven to suicide as a result of abuse. Our campaign aims to ensure that every suicide linked to domestic abuse is investigated as a potential homicide.

The launch was covered throughout mainstream media, including the Guardian, ITV and Sky News.

Since the launch, we have had useful meetings with the Crown Prosecution Service and police. Louisa Rolfe, National Policing Lead for domestic abuse, with Kate Brown, Chief Crown Prosecutor and Domestic Abuse lead at the Crown Prosecution Service, and with Graham Ritchie, Deputy Director for strategy and policy at the Crown Prosecution Service have all been receptive to our recommendations for changes to the way that domestic abuse-related suicides are investigated.

We are looking forward to steering further discussions and action to ensure change. This campaign will continue until we see justice for all those affected by this issue.

What can you do?

· Catch up with the campaign launch now on the video above. · Email comms@projectresist.org.uk to be added to our newsletter list for updates · Email comms@projectresist.org.uk to add your organisation to our campaign supporters

You can read recent news articles about the progress we are making here:

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/feb/15/number-uk-women-suicide-domestic-abuse-under-reported-say-experts

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/feb/18/calls-grow-suicides-linked-domestic-abuse-treated-potential-homicides

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/mar/03/parliament-suicides-domestic-abuse-homicide

For more information please contact comms@projectresist.org.uk

Further Contact & Media

Website links for further information: https://domesticabuserelatedsuicide.org

Her Name Was Chloe Holland links: https://linktr.ee/hernamewaschloeholland