Report lays bare 11 years of strangulation and suffocation homicides in England and Wales

There were 342 strangulation homicides from 2011 to 2021 and 75% of these victims were female.

Overall, female victims of strangulation homicide aged 16 or over were 54 times more likely to have been killed by an ex-partner or partner than a male victim of strangulation homicide.

A new report by the Institute For Addressing Strangulation shows that:

96% of cases of domestic strangulation homicides where the victim was aged 16 or over, the sex of the suspect was male.
The most frequent place for a female to be fatally strangled (86%) or suffocated (74%) was in a house. (The data does not include details on whether the house was the victim’s own home).
Female victims of strangulation homicide were most commonly aged between 25 and 34, whereas male victims were most commonly in the 35-44 age category.

Data shows that 25% of strangulation homicides from 2011 to 2021 victims were male with male victims of strangulation homicide most likely to have been strangled by a friend or acquaintance.

Furthermore, in strangulation homicides where the victim was a child aged under 16, the sex of the suspect was more evenly distributed (11 male suspects and 10 female suspects).

The Institute for Addressing Strangulation is funded by the Home Office

The full report can be accessed here.