Unsilenced: The invisible death toll of domestic abuse

More victims are now taking their own lives, as the families of victims are pushing for stricter sentencing for abusers.  

There were 242 domestic-related deaths between 2022 and 2023, with 93 being classed as suspected suicides, and 80 classed as homicides, according to figures from the Domestic Homicide Project.

This is equivalent to at least one and a half victim suicides every four days compared to one homicide every three days. 

Chloe Holland took her life in March 2023 following what police describe as a “horrific campaign of controlling and coercive behaviour”. Her mother, Sharon Holland is now campaigning for a change in law relating to domestic-related suicides. 

The petition ‘Her name was Chloe Holland’ is pushing for the government to create a specific statutory offence of manslaughter by coercive control, given that there is currently a clear lack of accountability for abusers. 

Marc Masterton, the perpetrator responsible for Chloe’s ongoing torment was sentenced to just 41 months in prison for coercive and controlling behaviour. This was extended this year by three years and seven months after a previous girlfriend, Zoe Castle, came forward with the same allegations. Masterton is set for release in October 2026.  

In the UK, pleading guilty to coercive control carries a sentence of up to five years, which for most cases is even less. For a crime posing such an imminent threat to women and girls, why is the punishment so negligible?  

Sharon explained how her daughter was subjected to a year of torment where she was isolated, physically assaulted, threatened and encouraged to take her life; yet she was not made aware of this until after Chloe died. 

“Over the year I did notice some weird things, but I just did not know [what was going on], WhatsApp messages were being read but she was not replying,” Sharon said. 

“I did not know that he was purposefully punching her in the face [until she had black eyes] so that she could not see her son. He was even sending messages through bank transfers,” she discovered after she found statements with small transactions with abusive references. 

Sharon has been left “in torture” and insists that a change in law is necessary to make families aware of the abuse as it is going on, and to increase the availability of support. 

“If someone had told me; I could have helped her. I did not know 90% of [what was going on], how can you help when you did not know?” 

Just two weeks before she took her life, Chloe filmed a video interview with the police reporting the abuse, helping to secure a conviction, though she had reported incidents to the police 15 times prior. It was not until after her death that there was an investigation leading to Masterton’s arrest. 

The lack of support is arguably what pushed Chloe to believe that suicide was the only way out. A study conducted by Agenda Alliance, a charity advocating for women and girls at risk, found that women who have experienced domestic violence are three times more likely to take their own life.  

Those who experienced forms of sexual abuse by a partner were found to be seven times more likely to commit suicide, as well as an increased risk for those in poverty.  

Chloe’s experience is not isolated as Sharon stresses the number of victims who are yet to even secure a conviction, as out of the “nearly thirty families” who have contacted her, “only three have had any justice, and that is just coercive control.” 

Most recently, the case of Kienna Dawes, who in her own suicide note protests she was “murdered slowly” by her partner Ryan Wellings, follows a similar pattern after he was cleared of manslaughter charges in January 2025.

Kienna suffered two years of controlling, coercive and violent behaviour. The abuse was reported five times to police, with the last being just eleven days before her death. 

Families who have been fighting this battle for seven years are only now getting some form of justice. The death of Kellie Sutton, who took her own life due to suffering domestic abuse, involving her “head being smashed against the table” at the hands of Steven Gane in 2017, has only just been ruled as an “unlawful killing” after years of pushing for an inquest.  

The only domestic-related suicide case since 2015 that has secured a conviction of manslaughter is the death of Justene Reece, who committed suicide as a “direct result” of her tormentor Nicholas Allen’s behaviour in 2017. 

Justene was hounded for months with threats to herself and her family. A total of 34 complaints were made to police prior to her death, yet these were not addressed.  

Refuge, the UK’s largest domestic abuse charity, estimates that around three women die every week from suicide as a result of domestic abuse, as well as being twice as likely to develop depression. 

Sharon has warned that statistics are just the “tip of the iceberg”, and that the reality of domestic-related suicides is much higher. Factors such as how police treat the crime scene and whether the victim had reported any abuse before their death, can have a big impact on reporting a correlation between suicide and domestic abuse. 

The treatment of Chloe and the treatment of others show the extent of how far women and girls are being let down. 

Finding the link between suicide and domestic abuse can prove challenging when it remains such an underreported crime, and there is a clear lack of knowledge and research in this area. 

Kent and Medway Suicide Prevention Programme, who have been collecting information for years, and will be the first area in the country to collect this data, found that 33% of suspected suicides (in Kent and Medway between 2018 and 2024) were impacted by domestic abuse.

This not only includes victims, but also perpetrators, and a third group of people who were known to the police both as victims and perpetrators.  

Following the research, the programme recommended a “national data collection process”, to be rolled out to other areas, though this has not been implemented to date. 

Tim Woodhouse, Kent and Medway Suicide Prevention Programme Manager explains: “I don’t think that it is an issue that is getting particularly worse […] these tragic deaths have always been happening, it is only now that we are opening our eyes and understanding the scale of the national scandal. 

“The fact that 33% of all suicides are impacted by domestic abuse is a massive proportion. However, I can guarantee that this is an underestimate given that domestic abuse is dramatically under-reported.” 

Though there is a general awareness of domestic abuse within the police and society, there needs to be a real shift in recognising the longer-term impacts on victims later down the line, including suicide,” Tim told Artefact. 

“Domestic abuse is devastating, and the long-term impact of the physical, emotional and often financial harm done can take many months, often years and sometimes even decades to recover from. 

“We must take measures to protect the victim from the risk of suicide […] for instance every victim should be asked if they are thinking about suicide, and every domestic abuse safety plan should have a section on how to keep the individual safe from themselves.” 

As figures are proving to be so dramatically high, the response must warrant the same level of urgency as domestic homicide, including further research and a broader awareness of suicide linked to domestic abuse.

---

Featured image by Pickpik.