[Garfie]

Originally Posted by Niamh.

It sounds a bit melodramatic here but I think it's because most men xould probably kill a woman by strangling her with his bare hands, in a way a woman couldn't the other way round. That's why it feels kind of sinister to me even in a joking around way

That’s a fact, Niamh. I do believe that the majority of women killed in DV situations die as a result of strangulation, and most women in these situations suffer non-fatal strangulation during such relationships, even when it does not end in death.
From memory, that’s why the law was changed a couple of years ago to make non-fatal strangulation an offence in itself, separate to any charges for DV. I think, at the time, a non-fatal strangulation conviction came with a custodial sentence, and I can remember this happened in the first case after the law was changed. I hope this is still the case, but I’m not sure if it remains so due to the lack of prison places.

However, in the same way that these charges and sentences are so important, I think it’s equally important that people are aware of the differences between grabbing, squeezing and placing the hands, and of whether those hands are around, or beside the neck.