Closed petition Make strangulation a specific criminal offence

Closed on 27 May 2021

Strangulation is the second most common method by which women die from homicide. Last year 41 women were killed by strangulation, yet current laws do not reflect the potential seriousness of the act.

Strangulation is often charged as the minor offence of common assault. Police and the CPS continually fail to acknowledge its seriousness and it is often not included as a charge in domestic violence cases. The law should recognise non-fatal strangulation as a specific physical and psychological attack.

Non-fatal strangulation is routinely charged as common assault - rather than ABH - due to a lack of physical markings. However, the long-term physical effects of strangulation include cardiac arrest, stroke, miscarriage, incontinence, speech disorders, seizures, paralysis, brain injury as well as psychological trauma and should be recognised as a specific offence and treated as a serious assault.