The Guardian view on suicide following domestic abuse: justice is not being done for victims | Editorial

2026-02-17 - 19:13

More women in toxic relationships take their own lives than are killed by an abusive partner. Perpetrators of abuse must be properly held accountable Hours before she hanged herself in 2023, Katie Madden spoke on the telephone with her abusive former partner, Jonathon Russell, who had been banned from contacting her after an alleged assault. After hearing testimony at the inquest into her death, the coroner cited Ms Madden’s long, toxic relationship with Mr Russell as a contributory factor in her suicide. But there has been no criminal investigation into her death. As our reporting this week has highlighted, this is a tragic but far too familiar story. The Domestic Homicide Project, a programme led by the National Police Chiefs’ Council, recorded 98 such suspected suicides following domestic abuse in 2024, compared with 80 cases where victims were killed by their partners. Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here. Continue reading...