AAFDA - Advocacy After Fatal Domestic Abuse

Once again the work of Counting Dead Women, The Femicide Census and Killed Women demonstrates with heartbreaking clarity that the most dangerous place for a woman is her own home. Here the Guardian tells the stories of the 50 women known to have been killed by a man so far in 2024. But we know that  the number of suicides linked to domestic abuse is greater than number of domestic homicides. AAFDA CEO, Frank Mullane, says, “No-one knows how many people’s lives are ruined by domestic abuse; no-one knows how many people are killed or caused to die from domestic abuse. Each year we become more knowing of the likely scale of the problem, and then new information indicates that the problem is bigger than we thought.” At AAFDA, we help those left behind after fatal domestic abuse and we help families to make sure that the victim’s voice is heard. We honour the life of the victim and we shine a light on the past to make sure lessons are learned to prevent further abuse. https://lnkd.in/dSGUUW7r  

Today is the DHR consultation response deadline. We are very grateful to the families and AAFDA and sector-wide colleagues for helping AAFDA to form our response. Click here to read AAFDA's full response https://lnkd.in/eiyQ8MBr

A new report from the National Police Chiefs’ Council has found that one in every six murders in 2022-23 related to domestic abuse, with suspected victim suicides following domestic abuse rising year-on-year. The same report estimates that there are at least 2 million victims of VAWG (Violence Against Women and Girls) each year. Maggie Blyth, the police national lead for VAWG, has called this situation ‘a national emergency’ and we agree. At AAFDA we work every day with the very worst consequences of domestic abuse, providing specialist advocacy for families bereaved by domestic homicide and we are the only organisation currently providing specialist support to families bereaved by suicide and unexplained death where there was a history of domestic abuse. We welcome this report which exposes the scale of this issue and we welcome the new government’s pledge to halve VAWG within a decade. https://lnkd.in/evqZ_sRE  

"Roisin was our world and me and her dad both miss her with every breath we take. Our hearts are truly broken. We now both just live for the sake of living. It was the honour of our lives as her parents to watch our beautiful daughter Roisin grow." This interview* with Margaret and Tony, who have won a two-year legal battle resulting in a landmark ruling stating that emotional abuse led to their daughter Roisin’s suicide, shows the courage, strength and sheer stamina they have had to find. This is truly a landmark case and offers hope to other families. https://lnkd.in/e_5VC7rB AAFDA supported and provided specialist advocacy to Roisin's family and we support so many more after suicides and unexplained deaths. But for the first time in our history, we have had to open a waiting list. If you can make a donation, however small, it will help to reduce that waiting list and mean that we can be there for every family who needs to turn AAFDA following the loss of a loved one to fatal domestic abuse. https://lnkd.in/eFgwiRYm *This recording contains references to domestic abuse and suicide and may bring to mind your own difficult experiences.

We really value feedback on our training provision. If you would like to find out more about AAFDA's training, go to https://lnkd.in/eFVkGCqM

Having worked with Roisin’s parents Margaret Hunter and Tony Bennett, we know that to win this landmark ruling stating that emotional abuse led to their daughter’s suicide has taken great skill, strength & stamina. https://lnkd.in/gnXzSUX5

We are horrified to hear of the killing of Carol, Hannah and Louise Hunt and we send our deepest sympathy and condolences to their family and to all who loved them. Domestic homicide is a national threat requiring an urgent response. AAFDA’s CEO Frank Mullane has issued the following statement

We are delighted to share that we have received #NationalLottery funding from The National Lottery Community Fund towards our specialist work with children bereaved by fatal domestic abuse. A very special thank you to everyone at Awards for All for believing in AAFDA’s work and thank you to National Lottery players for helping to #MakeAmazingHappen.

There's still time to book for our session on 9th July https://lnkd.in/ekhgzYZK

We’ve had an incredible amount of interest in our Home Office funded course for DHR Chairs. We’ve filled all spaces for 2024/2025 and we appreciate that this has left many disappointed. We're now accepting expressions of interest for potential DHR courses in 2025-26. To find out more and complete an Expression of Interest, please visit our website: https://lnkd.in/gZRu9WBb