A woman from Peterborough says fear is driving domestic abuse victims to take their own life
It's as a new report revealed suicide as the most common cause of death among domestic abuse victims
A woman from Peterborough, who was a victim of domestic abuse, says living in fear is too difficult.
A new report revealed suicide as the most common cause of death among domestic abuse victims.
It's overtaken intimate partner killings for the second year in a row.
Charities are now calling - whose victims take their own life - to be charged with manslaughter.
As well as this there are calls for agencies to share information to prevent future deaths, revealing 68% of victims and/or perpetrators were known to an agency.
I felt like I couldn't get away from the person who was abusing me
Linda Huskisson, CEO of the domestic abuse charity Living Keys, attempted to take her own life after being in an abusive relationship. She said:
"You just feel like your whole life is out of control."
"I felt like I couldn't get away from the person who was abusing me."
"There would be threats; there would be promises that things would change. You hear the sorry over and over and over again to the point where you think enough is enough, and that's where it gets dangerous."
"Many women would sooner kill themselves than continue to be abused because that's the only way they feel is the way out."
"When my ex-husband was in prison, he hunted me down, and he was out to kill, so I could have been another statistic that was a homicide victim of abuse."
Many women would sooner kill themselves than continue to be abused
26\2 people died in England and Wales as a result of domestic abuse in the past year.
9\8 of these were suspected suicide following domestic abuse and 80 intimate partner homicides.
Over four years (1 April 2020 – 31 March 2024), the number of people killed by their current or previous partner consistently represents around a third of domestic abuse-related deaths each year.