Domestic violence conference

Domestic violence conference

30 October 2024

NEWCASTLE’S Burrendale Hotel was the venue for a recent conference exploring the links between domestic abuse and suicide related deaths.

Organised by the South Eastern Domestic and Sexual Violence and Abuse Partnership, the event was the first of its kind in Northern Ireland when over 100 delegates came together to explore these urgent and complex issues.

Since 2020, 24 women have been murdered across the province with six alone in 2024. Six men have also been murdered this year with the figures highlighting the need for a collective response to stop these deaths.

The seminar was held in light of World Suicide Prevention Day and followed September’s designation as National Suicide Prevention Month, leading into Domestic Violence Awareness Month in October. 

The Burrendale event built on last year’s 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 on domestic homicides and suspected victim suicides by the National Police Chiefs’ Council in England and Wales found that between April 2022 and March last year, 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.

Local health professionals say 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.

They say 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. 

It also recommended 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.

Sheila Simons, chair of the South Eastern Domestic and Sexual Violence Partnership, said the Newcastle conference explored the links between domestic abuse and suicide and considered hidden homicides where a death may be staged to appear to be a suicide when in fact a homicide had occurred.

Sonya McMullan, from Women’s Aid Federation NI, highlighted the need to implement some key findings from the National Police Chiefs’ Council report.

She emphasised the need for an investigative mindset when attending unexpected or sudden deaths, for the mental health strategy to be stronger on domestic abuse and 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”.

Anyone who knows or who is experiencing domestic abuse, is asked to call the 24-hour domestic and sexual abuse helpline on 0808 802 1414. In an emergency, contact police on 999.