On Monday 13 March 2023, Vanessa Munro and Lotte Young Andrade launched a report that they co-authored with Sarah Dangar (Advocacy After Fatal Domestic Abuse) entitled ‘Learning Legacies: An Analysis of Domestic Homicide Reviews in Cases of Domestic Abuse Suicide’. The report analysed a series of DHRs that have been conducted in England and Wales in cases where a victim takes their own life in circumstances of domestic abuse, as well as data from a series of professional and family stakeholder interviews.

The aim was to learn more about the profiles and experiences of victims, the adequacy of service responses during their lives and after their deaths, and the ways in which DHRs are commissioned and conducted in suicide cases.

Findings highlighted the extent to which many deceased struggled in plain sight of a wide range of voluntary and statutory services, with opportunities for intervention too often being missed. They also demonstrated the particular challenges that can arise in conducting robust and transparent DHRs in suicide cases, and the need for improved guidance to ensure that lessons are appropriately learned to make the future safer for victims of domestic abuse.

The underlying research was funded by the Home Office, and the launch event was hosted by the Home Office and Minister for Safeguarding, at the House of Commons.

The team are now working on a series of policy briefings and practitioner toolkits drawing on the research, in order to inform changes currently underway to improve the DHR process in England and Wales, as well as the design and implementation of a similar DHR regime for the first time in Scotland. The research team are grateful to everyone who agreed to participate in the project, and to AAFDA for their collaboration. In particular, they are indebted to the bereaved family members who agreed to share their loved one’s stories, as well as their own experiences of navigating the DHR process, with us.

Read the full report.Link opens in a new window

		Live Scribes from Nifty Fox.