Slow femicide: when a woman kills herself after years of relationship violence, should her partner be charged with a crime? Professor Heather Douglas explains.

This episode contains material some people might find disturbing. Listener discretion is advised.  Melbourne Law School and host Jon Faine bring you Justice: a weekly podcast about the law behind the news. Slow femicide: when a woman kills herself after years of relationship violence, should her partner be charged with a crime? Professor Heather Douglas tells us of English cases where the man has been jailed for manslaughter. If this episode has raised any issues for you, you can contact the Lifeline Australia telephone support service on 13 11 14, or Project Respect on 0477 001 110 by phone call, text or WhatsApp. Further reading:Douglas, H. . (2026) “Suicides and Claimed Suicides in the Context of Domestic and Family Violence and Coercive Control: Legal and Policy Responses”, International Journal for Crime, Justice and Social Democracy:  https://www.crimejusticejournal.com/article/view/4720Wallkate, S., & Fitz-Gibbon, K. (2022). Re-imagining the measurement of femicide: From ‘thin’ counts to ‘thick’ counts. Current Sociology, 001139212210826:  https://doi.org/10.1177/00113921221082698Dangar, S. et al., (2022) Learning Legacies: An analysis of domestic homicide reviews in cases of domestic abuse suicide: https://aafda.org.uk/learning-legacies