Researchers have carrried out what they say is the first study of its kind to explore suicide rates in high-harm, high-risk domestic abuse perpetrators. 
Drive - a partnership between organisations SafeLives, Respect and Social Finance, which work with serial perpetrators of domestic abuse to address their behaviour - and the University of Bristol have announced the publication of a research paper: Suicide rates in high-risk, high-harm perpetrators of domestic abuse in England and Wales: a cohort study.
The research suggests that the suicide rate in this cohort is "significantly higher" than in many other high-risk groups.
The paper highlights that perpetrators can use threats of suicide as a form of coercive control, which can result in reluctance to support this group with suicidality, yet the death is not only a tragic loss of life but can have lasting impacts on both the adult victim(s) of the abuse and the perpetrator's children - with the loss of family members to suicide being a signifcant risk factor for future suicidal behaviour.
The authors said improving perpetrators' mental health and outcomes is imperative to reducing the suicide deaths in this group and therefore reduce the impact such deaths would have on the victims of abuse.
The Drive Partnership says it has been working across research, practice and policy work to advocate for fruther reserach into the risk of suicide and suicidal ideation in all domestic abuse perpetrators a well as more effective personalised safety plannig as a key protective factor.
*Drive said the paper will be published in Crisis: The Journal of Crisis Intervention and Suicide Prevention.