Underexamined and underreported: Suicidality and intimate partner violence: Connecting two major public health domains

Suicide and intimate partner violence (IPV) are each recognised as major public health concerns; however, the links between them have been critically under-examined. This briefing establishes the relationship between IPV and  suicidality (suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts) and self- harm, setting out the ways in which women are disproportionately impacted and at greater risk of IPV-related suicidality. Women who have experienced IPV are three  times more likely than women who have not experienced IPV to have made a suicide attempt in the past year. Women who have experienced sexual IPV are seven times more likely than those who had not experienced sexual IPV  to have attempted suicide in the past year. Furthermore, intersecting identities and experiences associated with systemic disadvantages, including poverty, disability, and ethnicity, exacerbate risks of both suicidality and IPV.
We urge policy-makers, practitioners, funders, and commissioners to recognise the links between IPV, suicidality, and self-harm, using these findings as impetus to implement measures to reduce the prevalence of both in society.