Assisted suicide law could be "lethal weapon" for domestic abusers - experts

Experts on domestic abuse have warned MSPs that assisted suicide legislation before the Scottish Parliament is a threat to victims, saying a law change could provide a "lethal weapon" to abusive men.

Dr Anni Donaldson, an academic, and Isabelle Kerr, the founder of women's protection service Beira's place have penned a powerful letter to the Committee examining a Holyrood Bill from Liam McArthur.

The letter, available here, states: “To date, we are not aware that any consideration has been given to the implications of the Assisted Dying Bill for the many Scottish women in this situation.

"Mr McArthur’s Bill risks offering a new, potentially lethal weapon to abusive men whose partners have been diagnosed with life-threatening or terminal illnesses."

The experts add that living in an abusive relationship "isolates women from friends and family; can remove their capacity to make free choices and decisions, and limit or deny them access to employment, leisure activities, health care, support, safety and justice".

"Women are regularly demeaned and told they are worthless, that they would be better off dead, or, that they are a useless mother, the children would be better off without you", it continues.

"The ongoing fear and trauma of coercive control and the constant humiliation can significantly erode women’s confidence, autonomy, and self-esteem. Cut off from external support, women often come to believe these lies, to fear reprisals from their partner if they report the abuse and thus tell no one.

"It is our position therefore that in this context, a woman living with an abusive partner is unlikely to be in a position to give her consent freely to the process of an assisted death."

Their letter concludes by warning that a change in the law in Scotland could "provide a conducive context for a domestic abuse perpetrator's ultimate act of control".

CARE is opposing the assisted suicide Bills at Westminster and Holyrood, which are approaching key debates. To find out more about our work opposing assisted suicide, and find helpful resources, visit our topic page: CARE for Assisted Suicide | CARE