Honour-Based Abuse is Often Missed in Suicide Investigations
So-called honour-based abuse and coercive control are often not identified in suicide investigations. As a result, some deaths are recorded without a full understanding of the circumstances behind them. Patterns of abuse can therefore remain invisible in official records.
A pattern of control
Honour-based abuse is not always visible as physical violence. It often involves sustained control over a person’s life, including restrictions on movement, monitoring of behaviour, and control over relationships, and decision-making.
Over time, this can create intense psychological pressure. In some cases, it contributes to self-harm or suicide. Yet the role of coercive control is frequently not recognised in official findings.
What the evidence shows
Research indicates that people affected by honour-based abuse and coercive control face an increased risk of suicide. Some studies have found suicide rates among young South Asian women in the UK have been around twice the national average in certain periods.
There’s also strong evidence linking coercive control with self-harm and suicidal behaviour. Despite this, it is rarely recorded as a factor in suicide investigations. This indicates that the scale of the issue is under-recorded.
Gaps in investigations
Suicide investigations tend to focus on the final events, rather than long-term patterns of abuse. This makes it harder to identify cases where ongoing coercion has contributed to a person’s mental health decline.
At the same time, those affected are often unable to seek help due to fear, stigma, or isolation. By the time harm becomes visible, it may be too late.
An example of how this can happen
A person may live in a household where their independence is gradually restricted. Their movements are controlled, their relationships are limited, and their isolation increases. They experience ongoing distress but are unable to seek effective support.
Eventually, they die by suicide. In the investigation that follows, coercive control is not formally identified or recorded. As a result, the full context of the death is not captured.
Why it matters
When honour-based abuse is not identified in suicide investigations, abuse may go unrecorded and unaddressed. This weakens prevention and hides patterns of harm.
It also limits accountability and leaves gaps in safeguarding, mental health, and justice responses.
What needs to change
Suicide investigations must do more to identify honour-based abuse and coercive control. These patterns of sustained harm are still too often missed or not recorded.
Existing safeguarding tools and legal frameworks need to be used more consistently in cases involving coercion.
Earlier intervention is essential. So is better training for frontline professionals, improved data collection, and stronger coordination between safeguarding, mental health, and justice services.
Without this, key warning signs will continue to be missed, and preventable deaths will remain unrecognised.
This campaign draws on the findings of two policy briefs by Dr. Mohammad Mazher Idriss, which form a key evidence base for understanding how honour-based abuse and coercive control can be overlooked in suicide investigations. Both are available to download below.
Addressing Honour-Based Suicides in the Criminal Justice System.