Domestic, family and sexual violence are rightly recognised. A national crisis.
Although the evidence base has developed significantly in recent times, a very important missing piece of the puzzle is how these types of violence affect individuals who die by suicide nationwide.
Data released this week The Coroners Court of Victoria has detailed the experiences of family violence amongst individuals who die by suicide.
The statistics are alarming. They remind us of what many working on this space already instinctively know: the national crisis of men's violence against women is alarmingly high in official statistics. is greater than
What does the report tell us?
This latest report Presents data collected by the Victorian Suicide Register on 4,790 suicides reported between 2009 and 2016.
During this era, one in 4 suicide victims (24.5%) had experienced family violence before their death.
The rate was higher amongst women who died by suicide, with evidence of domestic violence in 28.2 percent of cases.
This rate captures only those cases wherein evidence of family violence might be identified by the court.
Given all types of family violence. are under reportIncluding police, legal and other services, this data may understate the true rates of family violence amongst individuals who die by suicide.
Where there was evidence of family violence prior to suicide, half of those that died by suicide had a perpetrator of violence.
In one in three cases, the one that died by suicide was a victim of family violence. In these cases, the deceased was significantly more prone to be female (62.1%).
The report also recorded one other 17.5 percent of suicides where the one that died by suicide had used family violence and was a victim of each. Very little information is provided about this group.
We need to raised understand the underlying use of violence in these situations, including whether or not this data is included. Incidents of mistaken identity And what effect did it have? The role of intergenerational experiences of abuse also needs to be considered.
Sexual abuse
The report highlights the gender gap in Victoria's record of individuals dying by suicide during this era.
Significantly more males (65%) than females (16%) were recorded as perpetrators of family violence. In contrast, women were more prone to be listed as victims of family violence (62.1%).
These differences are expected given the gendered nature of family violence. Internationally, research has consistently shed light. Increased risk of suicide and self-harm Among abused women.
Statistics show that just one in two male perpetrators of domestic violence who die by suicide used violence against an intimate partner.
A greater proportion of men who died by suicide (22.1%) than women (10.2%) committed family violence against multiple people, including a partner and not less than one other member of the family.
The data also showed that girls who had experienced domestic violence who died by suicide were more prone to experience domestic violence by an intimate partner.
In contrast, male victims were more prone to experience domestic violence by a member of the family aside from their partner.
Many aspects at play
The report provides insight into how family violence and suicide interact with other social issues.
Although the report doesn't discuss the cause, it does have a look at the prevalence of mental health diagnoses. About three-quarters of family violence victims who later died by suicide had been diagnosed with a mental illness sooner or later of their lives (72.5% of men, 78.2% of ladies).
Rate of Substance abuse More were reported in people experiencing family violence than in the overall Victorian suicidal population.
Victims and perpetrators of family violence who died by suicide were more prone to experience financial stress than the broader Victorian suicide population.
It was defined as any evidence of stress or loss related to the deceased's financial situation. For example, over-indebtedness, loss of cash, inability to pay mortgage or bills or incur other living expenses, and gambling-related losses. This is a timely finding given the present cost of living crisis and the necessity to know where additional support services could also be needed.
More than 60% of male domestic violence perpetrators who died by suicide in the course of the study period had experienced not less than one legal stress before their death. This included involvement in criminal and civil legal proceedings, including divorce settlements and child custody matters.
Reflecting the detrimental impact on the legal system On the victimsLegal stress was also present within the lives of greater than one-third of family violence victims who died by suicide.
Coherence and consistency are key.
The data represent a very important step in quantifying the prevalence of family violence amongst those that die by suicide in a single Australian state.
But this violence is a national problem. This data is required for every state and territory in Australia. We cannot effectively address and stop what we don't measure.
Following recent federal recommendations Quick reviewThere is a necessity for greater coordination at Commonwealth, State and Territory levels to gather this data in the identical way across jurisdictions.
It can be necessary to know the impact of family violence experiences on one's suicide. This data doesn't examine the timeframe of the experiences, nor the person's proximity to death. These are necessary aspects to tell prevention strategies.
The more we learn about how victims experience and interact with services, the more informed early intervention and response efforts might be. Victims can have experienced various services before they died.
Each of those points is a very important opportunity for intervention. A greater understanding, including what role family and friends can play in helping family members, might be used to tell more practical suicide prevention efforts.
First and foremost, each of their lives matter. And they represent the extra lives lost in Australia's national crisis of domestic, family and sexual violence. Current efforts to forestall femicide in Australia should account for and higher understand suicide deaths following family violence.