Wiltshire charity calls for action to avoid preventable abuse-survivor deaths
An annual police report has revealed more abuse survivors died through suspected suicide than homicide for the second year running.
More domestic abusers whose victims die by suicide will be charged with manslaughter, a senior police chief has said.
An annual national police report on domestic homicides published on Tuesday revealed that the most common cause of death among victims in England and Wales in the year to the end of March 2024 was suspected suicide for the second year running.
Assistant Commissioner Louisa Rolfe, who is national policing lead for domestic abuse, said more perpetrators will be charged with manslaughter following their victims' deaths.
The report recorded 262 deaths between April 2023 and March 2024, with 98 suspected as suicide.
Assistant Commissioner Louisa Rolfe, national policing lead for domestic abuse, said: “The sustained nature of domestic homicide shows how deeply ingrained violence against women and girls is in our communities.
“The Domestic Homicide Project has now recorded over 1000 domestic abuse-related deaths across a four year period. The scale and impact is incomprehensible and as a society, we cannot delay action to prevent future deaths.”
Gemma Vinton from Wiltshire-based charity says the statistics are concerning.
"But going deeper than that, these statistics are people. They're people with families and with friends," she said, adding: "It just makes this even more determined than ever to make sure that we can be here for every single person that needs that support has that that experience that they want to talk about and they want to be able to work through."
FearFree is supporting survivors in Wiltshire through it's RISE scheme, which provides bespoke support as people rebuild their lives.
The report also calls for information to be shared between organisations more effectively, but Gemma says it must not stop there, insisting on a preventative approach.
"Let's get investment and let's get a system in place whereby there is enough funding for police services for charities like Fear Free for everybody within the community who's able to provide that level of support, being able to provide it at the point of need," she told us.
Gemma agreed sharing information is important, but a better resourced group of agencies can act in someone's hour of need and provide hope in the justice system.
She added that anyone taking their own life is a tragedy, but it's one that can be prevented.
Gemma said: "Understanding the rationale and what's led people to make that tragic decision can only then help us to put things in place in the future to provide the level of support people need before they make that that choice.
"Let's understand it and let's put things in place before we ever get to that stage."