Domestic Homicide Reviews (DHR’s)

A Domestic Homicide Review (DHR) is carried out where a person has died as a result of abuse, violence or neglect by a relative, intimate partner or member of the same household.

DHRs were established on a statutory basis under Section 9 of the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act (2004).

DHRs are carried out by Community Safety Partnerships to ensure that lessons are learnt when a person has died as a result of domestic abuse, either by homicide or suicide.

The purpose of a DHR is to:

• Establish what lessons can be learned from the homicide regarding the way in which local professionals and organisations work individually and together to safeguard victims
• Identify clearly what those lessons are both within and between agencies, how and within what timescales they will be acted on, and what is expected to change as a result
• Apply those lessons to service responses including changes to policies and procedures as appropriate
• Prevent domestic abuse and domestic homicides and suicides, and improve service responses for all domestic abuse victims and their children through improved intra and inter-agency working.
• Family members, friends and colleagues of the victim are important to the DHR process.

An independent chair is appointed and will aim to make contact with friends and family, to enable them to inform the review and build a complete picture of the circumstances leading up to the homicide.

The Home Office has published draft guidance on when a domestic homicide review needs to be carried out and how to do this, whilst the formalised version of guidance is being formulated.

Published Domestic Homicide Reviews (DHR)

Full report of the Domestic Homicide Review into the death of Lisa, April 2021

Executive Summary of a Domestic Homicide Review into the death of Lisa, April 2021

Home Office Feedback letter