Domestic violence crisis: Coroner calls for inquiry into invisible deaths of abused women

A Coroner has called for an urgent national inquiry after alarming new figures estimated hundreds of Australian women were committing suicide as a result of domestic and sexual violence.

A state coroner has called for an urgent national inquiry into domestic violence-driven suicides amid shocking estimations hundreds of Australian women took their lives this year to end their suffering – at least three times more than the national female homicide rate.

The revelation comes amid a new push for coercive control laws in Victoria as family violence rates soar to devastating new heights.

Last week State Coroner John Cain called on the Victorian and federal governments to urgently investigate links between domestic and sexual abuse and suicide to inform a new death toll register in the hopes of preventing the many invisible deaths of abused women.

“Australia has yet to include suicide related to domestic, family and sexual violence (DFSV) victimisation in homicide data, despite evidence suggesting that suicides related to DFSV victimisation potentially account for at least three times the number of female homicide deaths,” he said.

“The potential to prevent further suicide through DFSV victimisation is deserving of further investigation.”

Coroner John Cain Jr has called for an urgent national inquiry into domestic violence driven suicides.

He made the recommendation after investigating the 2021 suicide of 29-year-old Melbourne mother Thi Minh Phuong Nguyen following reported violence from her allegedly serially abusive partner, whom five other women had also sought protection from.

Alarming estimates indicate domestic and sexual violence-driven suicides of women potentially account for at least three times the number of women who are killed.

With well over 80 female homicides recorded nationally this year, it’s feared that figure represents just a fraction of the true scale of tragedy, with hundreds of other women across the country taking their lives in order to escape their abuser’s torment and control.

Calls for a national inquiry into domestic violence-linked suicides were put to the federal government in August by an expert-led rapid review team following an earlier national cabinet meeting to prevent gender-based violence.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese declared the rise in homicides of women and children a national crisis and said all jurisdictions must work together to urgently identify gaps to protect lives.

“A national inquiry into the relationship between domestic, sexual and family violence victimisation and suicide (is necessary) so that the true scale of the national emergency facing Australia can finally be understood,” the review states.

Melbourne woman Clare Pelly, 28, took her life in December 2023 after a toxic, controlling relationship. Picture: Supplied

The recommendations of the review are yet to be addressed.

The family of Melbourne woman Clare Pelly, 28, is campaigning for change after her suicide last December.

They say her bright demeanour and confidence slowly withered away after entering a toxic relationship in which she was constantly monitored and isolated from family, friends and work and turned to alcohol to cope.

“She had a kind heart. She made friends with everyone,” her older sister Lizzie Hunter said. “But slowly it all changed. She lost her identity and who she was.

The same week her ex-partner re-entered her life, Clare Pelly took her own life. Picture: Supplied

“It isn’t easy to break away from a perpetrator – they try to manipulate you any way they can. They try take your soul from you.”

After a sustained period of control, Ms Pelly broke free of her toxic relationship, underwent alcohol rehabilitation and in the week before her suicide even sought advice to join the police force.

That same week her ex-partner re-entered her life and she sadly took her own.

“She tried really hard and was so close to turning her life around,” Ms Hunter said.

Clare Pellly’s family has backed calls for a national register of suicides driven by domestic and sexual violence. Picture: Supplied

Ms Pelly’s family has backed calls for a national register of suicides driven by domestic and sexual violence similar to Britain, which combines domestic abuse-related deaths in its national homicide records.

“These deaths must be recognised so we can prevent more women being driven to that point. The suicide label is unfair – these women felt like they had no other choice but to end their life,” Ms Hunter said.

No criminal charges were laid over Ms Pelly’s death but it has been referred to the Victorian Systematic Review of Family Violence Deaths led by the Coroners Court.

Ms Pelly’s family also stands firmly behind renewed calls by victim-survivors for a stand-alone coercive control offence in Victoria.

No criminal charges were laid over Ms Pelly’s death. Picture: Supplied

Research from Monash and Griffith universities this week revealed 130 victim-survivors across the country overwhelmingly support coercive control laws and believe existing criminal justice system responses too frequently cause more harm to them rather than holding perpetrators accountable.

“It needs to be taken just as seriously as physical abuse because the impacts are just as detrimental even though you can’t see it,” Ms Hunter said.

Unlike NSW and QLD which have standalone coercive control laws, the Victorian government has resisted public pressure, saying such behaviour is already criminalised under general family violence laws.

Almost 99,000 family violence incidents were reported to Victoria Police in 2023-24 – a record high, and a 6 per cent increase on last year.

“This increase may suggest that the number of family violence incidents recorded by police involving coercive control in Victoria is rising,” said Crime Statistics Agency Chief Statistician Fiona Dowsley.

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Originally published as Domestic violence crisis: Coroner calls for inquiry into invisible deaths of abused women