Leeds Women’s Aid’s Chief Executive shares response to the first teen domestic abuse related suicide recorded in England and Wales:
“Leeds Women’s Aid is deeply saddened that the first teenage suicide linked to domestic abuse has been recorded in England and Wales this week.
Domestic abuse-related suicides have outnumbered homicides for the third year running in recorded statistics, highlighting the devastating toll that ongoing abuse can have on victim-survivors. Abusers may isolate them from loved ones, control their daily lives and erode their self-worth, leaving some to believe suicide is the only way out. The fact that teenagers are the fastest-growing age group reporting domestic abuse is extremely concerning.
This rise among young people has been linked to the influence of violent pornography and toxic voices within the ‘manosphere’, where harmful misogynistic attitudes and abusive behaviours are becoming normalised.
Urgent whole-system action is needed to help keep women and girls safe from violence and abuse. We are calling for stronger online controls, priority investment in schools and specialist services, and greater access to positive male allies and role models.
Our sector has highlighted for decades that suicides due to domestic abuse were a significant issue, so we welcome the fact that police forces have begun recording them in recent years. Leeds Women’s Aid continues to work with young people in the community to provide early intervention support, break the cycle of abuse, and raise awareness of healthy relationships and the warning signs of coercive control. No young person should feel domestic abuse is something they have to endure alone, and no suicide linked to domestic abuse should ever be seen as inevitable.”
-Nik Peasgood, CEO of Leeds Women’s Aid
Learn more about this story: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/apr/28/first-teenage-suicide-domestic-abuse-england-and-wales