A conference, the first of it’s kind to be held in Northern Ireland, which addresses the connection between domestic abuse and suicide-related deaths, has taken place in Newcastle.
Organised by the South Eastern Domestic and Sexual Violence and Abuse Partnership, over 100 delegates came together to explore these urgent and complex issues.
Since 2020, 24 women have been murdered – six of these women in 2024 alone. Six men have also been murdered this year. These figures highlight the need for a collective response to stop these deaths.
The seminar was held in light of World Suicide Prevention Day on 10 September 2024 and followed September’s designation as National Suicide Prevention Month, leading into Domestic Violence Awareness Month in October. It built on the themes of the South Eastern Domestic and Sexual Violence and Abuse Partnership’s 2023 conference, which focused on Domestic Homicide Reviews and expanded the conversation to examine how domestic abuse can lead to both domestic homicides and suicides.
A recent report ‘Domestic Homicides and Suspected Victim Suicides Year 3 Report (2020 – 2023)’, published in March 2024 by the National Police Chiefs’ Council in England and Wales, found that between April 2022 and March 2023, there were 93 suspected victim suicides following domestic abuse and 80 intimate partner homicides, which showed the suicide-related deaths from domestic abuse were more.
This could be due to increased awareness of suicide-related deaths from domestic abuse, as well as how these deaths are recorded. In Northern Ireland, types of statistics relating to suicide are not currently being captured.
Domestic abuse and related homicides continue to be a staggering figure in Northern Ireland, with more than 20 Domestic Homicide Reviews initiated since their introduction in 2020.
The National Police Chief’s Council report also highlighted the need for improvement in the approach to suspected victim suicides, including recognising the high risk posed by coercive and controlling behaviour. Speaking to friends and family to establish any history of domestic abuse, embedding professional curiosity attending unexpected deaths and prosecuting perpetrators for domestic abuse after a victims suicide.
Chair of South Eastern Domestic and Sexual Violence Partnership, Sheila Simons, emphasised, “This seminar is the first of its kind to be held in Northern Ireland to explore the links between domestic abuse and suicide and to consider hidden homicides where a death may be staged to appear to be a suicide when in fact a homicide had occurred.”
Chief Executive Officer of Advocacy After Fatal Domestic Abuse (AAFDA), Frank Mullane, joined the seminar to speak about AAFDA’s findings about the links being made between domestic abuse and suicide-related deaths.
Frank detailed how, “Those trapped by domestic abuse can feel so hopeless that they believe the only way out is suicide. 83% confirmed feeling despairing and hopeless, a key determinant for suicide. The domestic abuse and suicide prevention worlds do not speak to each other sufficiently and this is something that we need to address and embed in multi-agency working.”
Sonya McMullan from Women’s Aid Federation NI, highlighted the need to implement some key findings from the National Police Chiefs’ Council report. Sonya emphasised the need for an investigative mindset when attending unexpected or sudden deaths, for the Mental Health Strategy to be stronger on domestic abuse, the Suicide Prevention Strategy to include domestic abuse and finally to improve public awareness around suicide following domestic abuse.
Caroline King from PAPYRUS NI, a charity focused on preventing young suicides, echoed the call for closer collaboration between suicide prevention and domestic abuse services. She shared that PAPYRUS had received 231 calls related to domestic abuse in 2022, with 15% of those from males.
Chief Executive Officer, Rhonda Lusty, of the Men’s Advisory Project stated “31% of domestic abuse victims in Northern Ireland are male and six out of the 20 Domestic Homicide Reviews initiated to date involved male victims. There needs to be increased professional curiosity and a better understanding of male victims of domestic abuse, particularly in the context of suicide risk, given that 76.8% of suicide deaths in the UK in 2022 were male.”
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic abuse, call the 24-hour Domestic and Sexual Abuse Helpline on 0808 802 1414. In an emergency, contact the PSNI on 999.