Strangulation has been identified as one of the most lethal forms of domestic abuse and sexual assault: unconsciousness can occur within seconds and death within minutes. When  perpetrators strangle their victims, not only is this a crime with a prison sentence of up to 5 years, but it may be an attempted homicide. Strangulation is an ultimate form of power and control where the perpetrator can demonstrate control over the victim’s next breath; it can cause physical injury such as stroke, brain injury, miscarriage, as well as devastating psychological effects.

With sessions involving:

  • Nicole Jacobs, Domestic Abuse Commissioner
  • Louisa Rolfe OBE, National Police Chiefs Council Lead for Domestic Abuse
  • Dr Cath White, Sexual Offence Medicine Lead for Faculty of Forensic and Legal Medicine
  • Gael Strack & Casey Gwinn, leading U.S. experts in the identification and investigation of strangulation in intimate partner cases, who are credited with overseeing a 90% drop in domestic violence homicides in the City of San Diego.

Topics to be covered include:

  • The lethality of strangulation
  • The signs & symptoms
  • Findings from 300 strangulation cases
  • Tools & Resources for Advocates
  • Anatomy and medical aspects in surviving and non-surviving victims
  • Use of experts in court
  • Investigating and documenting a trangulation case for prosecution
  • Legal aspects of strangulation cases with surviving victims
  • Resources and handouts developed by the Institute

 “For many years, we didn’t realize what strangulation was. We would see it in police reports. We would hear victims say, ‘he grabbed me’ ‘he choked me’. It didn’t mean anything to us, and we certainly didn’t understand how lethal it was. But, as we started to  put medical experts on the stand and hearing what was going on, and then had research to back it up, we found out that, choking is strangulation, and now we realize if you’re at strangulation, you’re at death. You’re right on the edge of murder.”

Who should attend:

Staff and volunteers from:

Police, Prosecutors, Judges& Magistrates, Paramedics, A & E, GP practices, DA Partnerships, NGO & Statutory DA & Sexual Assault Sector, Psychologists, Social Workers, Probation, Forensics

To register, CTRL click: Register