Advance holds webinar to mark World Suicide Prevention Day

September 11, 2026

Advance’s webinar to mark World Suicide Prevention Day 2026 was attended by over 200 representatives from charities, local government and organisations supporting those affected by domestic abuse and suicidality.

The webinar was chaired by Amrita Brar, Advance’s Head of Domestic Abuse Services, and explored the link between Gender, Domestic Abuse and suicidality.
Panellists were mum, campaigner and Advance Lived Experience Ambassador Sharon Holland, whose daughter Chloe took her own life while in an abusive relationship, Dr Hannana Siddiqui, Director of Policy, Campaigns & Research with Southall Black Sisters, and Nirma Bheeroo, Counselling Manager, Woman’s Trust.

Amrita Brar said:

“The webinar gave us a clearer, shared understanding that suicidality cannot be viewed solely as a mental health issue. For some survivors, suicidal thoughts and attempts are a result of the cumulative impact of domestic abuse on their psychological wellbeing.Professionals need to ask what may have happened to them, rather than simply what is “wrong” with them.

“The webinar also highlighted how racism, poverty, insecure immigration status and barriers to specialist support can increase both entrapment and risk for women from the global majority where unfortunately, so many women have died by suicide as a result.

“Critically, we must listen to specialist organisations, survivors and bereaved families and the learnings from the webinar must translate into action.”

Sharon Holland said:

“From my lived experience of campaigning, I’ve met many families and what I’ve noticed, including my own daughter’s case, is a lack of knowledge around coercive control, the lack of understanding around the psychological impact coercive control causes.

“If a victim presents as volatile and erratic because of the trauma they’ve suffered – constant isolation, verbal abuse, sexual abuse, financial abuse and physical abuse – they’re not taken seriously.

“Professionals must be trauma-informed and trained in responding to coercive control that could possibly lead to suicide. A victim doesn’t always present as calm and quiet and there could be drug and alcohol misuse to help them deal with the trauma they’re going through.”

The webinar contributed to the growing conversation on the intersection of gender, trauma and suicidality. The reality is that domestic abuse-related suicide now outnumbers homicide in Domestic Homicide Reviews.

Evidence suggests that since 2020 there have been at least three suicides each month where a history of domestic abuse has been present.

In 2025, Advance released The Intersection of Gender, Domestic Abuse and Suicidality, a report by Insights Analyst Caitlin Senior exploring the increase in, and drivers of, women dying by suicide following domestic abuse.

The report also raised questions around how survivors can be better supported, and perpetrators held to account.

Watch the Webinar in full