"Slow femicide” – suicide through family violence victimisation

Leading domestic violence expert Professor Heather Douglas AM from the University of Melbourne, is calling for Australia to hold perpetrators accountable through the investigation of suicides linked to domestic abuse and coercive control.

And ECLIPSE is calling for New Zealand to investigate. Some of the findings are confronting:

• Australia records women killed by current or former partners, but women who die by suicide after years of abuse are often missing from official domestic violence statistics.

• Research shows that when coroners investigate women's suicides, between 25% and 50% have a history of domestic and family violence.

• Around 15 Australian women die by suicide every week.

• In California, "Joanna's Law" requires police to thoroughly investigate suicides where there is a history of domestic violence.

• In the UK, coercive control laws have led to abusive partners being charged after women died by suicide

• Experts warn that some domestic violence homicides are staged to look like suicides, meaning crucial evidence can be lost if investigations stop too soon.

Violence doesn't only kill through physical assault. Coercive control, intimidation, isolation, financial abuse and psychological abuse can have fatal consequences too. As Heather notes: "There should be some accountability to the perpetrator who carried out that violence."

Full link here - International Journal for Crime, Justice and Social Democracy

If you are in immediate risk please call 111 or seek support through Aoteroa New Zealand support agencies - Where to Get Help | ECLIPSE