Criminalising Non-Fatal Strangulation in the United Kingdom: Comparative Legal Analysis and Early Evidence on Intimate Partner Homicides

Lisa Cherkassky, Alaiba Faheem, Sonia Oreffice and Climent Quintana-Domeque
Additional contact information
Lisa Cherkassky: Law School, University of Exeter
Alaiba Faheem: Department of Economics, University of Exeter
Sonia Oreffice: Department of Economics, University of Exeter
Climent Quintana-Domeque: Department of Economics, University of Exeter

No 2604, Discussion Papers from University of Exeter, Department of Economics

Abstract: This article examines how non-fatal strangulation and suffocation (NFS) is criminalised across United Kingdom jurisdictions and whether the introduction of a standalone NFS offence in England and Wales is associated with changes in intimate partner homicide (IPH). Its principal contribution is comparative and legal: it shows how England and Wales, Northern Ireland, and Scotland differ in defining, charging, and proving NFS-type conduct. The article then uses a jurisdiction-year panel for England and Wales and Scotland to estimate an exploratory difference-in-differences specification of IPH counts and rates following the June 2022 reform in England and Wales. Descriptive patterns suggest a relative post-reform decline in female-victim IPH counts in England and Wales, but inference is limited by the two-jurisdiction comparison, short post-reform window, rare-event volatility, and pre-trend concerns. The quantitative analysis is therefore best understood as an exploratory extension that identifies hypothesis-consistent patterns rather than clear causal evidence.

Keywords: non-fatal strangulation; intimate partner violence; intimate partner homicide; domestic abuse law; offence design (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I18 J12 J16 K14 K42 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026-05-05
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://exetereconomics.github.io/RePEc/dpapers/DP2604.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:exe:wpaper:2604

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in Discussion Papers from University of Exeter, Department of Economics Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sebastian Kripfganz ().