On the 25 August, the Home Office published a report on domestic homicides and suspected victim suicides during the pandemic. In 2020 the Domestic Homicides Project was established by police and government in England and Wales to collect, review, and share quick-time learning from all police-recorded domestic homicides and also from suspected suicides of individuals with a history of domestic abuse victimisation in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and restrictions.
The report found that in total, between the start of the Covid-19 restrictions in England and Wales on 23rd March 2020 and 31st March 2021 there were 215 deaths in 208 incidents reported to this project. These included domestic homicides, child deaths, unexplained deaths, and suspected victim suicides with a known history of domestic abuse. For domestic homicides, the overall number of deaths in the 12 months 1 April 2020 to 31 March 2021 was 163. This is slightly higher than the previous year (152) but in line with the 15-year average. There were additionally 38 suspected suicides of victims of domestic abuse reported to the project in the 12 months 1 April 2020 to 31 March 2021.