Fallen Women
Ensuring suspicious deaths are never dismissed.
We want all domestic abuse-related deaths to be recognised and investigated as potential homicides from the outset, through changes to legislation, national policing guidance and oversight mechanisms.
● Watch the documentary ● Read the report ● Help us make the case for change
📺 Stacey Dooley: Fallen Women, BBC Three, Tuesday 13 October, 9pm, and BBC iPlayer
Stacey Dooley’s Fallen Women / ‘Fallen Women – Bee’s Law’ National Report
We are proud that Jhiselle Feanny, Co-Founder of Killed Women, features in Stacey Dooley’s Fallen Women. This important BBC documentary shares the story behind our Fallen Women campaign and Jhiselle’s years of work seeking answers and change following the death of her sister, Bianca ‘Bee’ Thomas.
The documentary explores the deaths of women following falls from height, the potential role of domestic abuse and the questions that can arise about how these deaths are investigated.
To coincide with the broadcast, we have published our new 24-page national report, ‘Fallen Women – Bee’s Law’, led and authored by Jhiselle. Drawing on national policing data and new Freedom of Information research, the report sets out the case for a consistent, precautionary investigative response where domestic abuse might be involved.
● ‘Bee’s Law’: A national precautionary standard for falls from height and other unexpected deaths where domestic abuse may be relevant.
“The fall is a mechanism, not the context.
Women have been falling from height since the dawn of time. The context has too often gone unexplored and misunderstood – until now.”
● The recommendation: Implement Bee’s Law now as a national operational policing standard, beginning with deaths following a fall from height where domestic abuse is known, suspected or cannot reasonably be excluded. Legislative or code-based underpinning can develop in parallel; the core safeguards should not wait for a pilot.
___________________
KW welcome the comment on the report from the Minister for Safeguarding and Violence against Women and Girls Satvir Kaur:
“Every domestic abuse-related death is a profound tragedy, leaving families to live with unimaginable loss and unanswered questions. This vital report shines a light on the pain too many bereaved families endure. We’ve reformed Domestic Abuse Related Death Reviews to better understand the circumstances surrounding deaths linked to domestic abuse. We are also funding the Domestic Homicide Project to build our understanding of the scale of the issue, to identify risks earlier, improve the response of frontline agencies and better prevent these devastating deaths in future. We are deploying the full power of the state to halve violence against women and girls in a decade.”
___________________
We would like to thank the following for their invaluable contributions to the report and the campaign: Jen Robinson (Doughty Street Chambers), Kate Ellis, Peter Starkings, Joanna Robinson, Samantha Joseph, Sonia Sodha, Emily Wilson, Anna Ryder, Teresa Parker, Dr Sofia Graça, Frank Mullane MBE (AAFDA), Dr Hannana Siddiqui OBE (Southall Black Sisters), Jess Phillips MP, Professor Jane Monckton-Smith, Dame Nicole Jacobs, the Centre for Women’s Justice, Femicide Census, the HOPE Alliance, Louise Tickle, Gemma Newby, Steve Keogh, various other former homicide detectives, specialist falls investigators, safeguarding practitioners and investigative journalists – as well as colleagues and bereaved families from AAFDA and Killed Women, with particular thanks to the Javed family.
Fallen Women – Bee’s Law
On Thursday 8 October, Killed Women were joined by families, campaigners, supporters and partners for the launch of our ‘Fallen Women – Bee’s Law’ national research report (to be published on 13 October) and our renewed call for change.
The campaign began in 2018, following the death of Bianca ‘Bee’ Thomas, when her sister, Jhiselle Feanny (KW Co-Founder), began asking vital questions about how deaths following falls from height are investigated, where domestic abuse may be a factor. Eight years on, the evidence strengthens the case for action.
Our new national report brings together research, family experiences and Freedom of Information findings to call for a consistent national policing standard that protects evidence, ensures domestic abuse is properly considered and prevents premature investigative conclusions.
Our heartfelt thanks to everyone who joined us and contributed to the evening: Victims’ Commissioner for London Andrea Simon; the panel chair, Emily Wilson, Head of UK News at ITV News; and expert members Kate Ellis of the Centre for Women's Justice, Frank Mullane MBE of AAFDA, Steve Keogh, Dr Sofia Graça of Canterbury Christ Church University, and Dr Carolina Gutiérrez-Muñoz of the Domestic Homicide Project, NCVPP, for explaining the report’s findings and importance; Sam Joseph, for kindly introducing and sharing her film ‘FALLEN’ (https://www.samjosephstudios.com/fallen) – and especially the families whose determination continues to drive this campaign forward.
Every woman deserves a thorough investigation. Every family deserves answers.
“A fall is a mechanism, not the context.”
Stacey Dooley’s Fallen Women
BBC Documentaries has announced three brand new powerful documentaries from Stacey Dooley, each looking at timely issues facing the UK today. “Fallen Women”, which will be broadcast at 9pm on Tuesday 13th October 2026 on BBC Three, sees Stacey look into a series of cases involving British women who died following falls from height, asking whether patterns of domestic abuse may have been overlooked in some of these deaths.
‘The film begins with the story of Bianca Thomas, a young mother from Birmingham whose death after falling from an 11th-floor balcony was ruled accidental. Stacey meets Bianca’s family [including her sister, Killed Women co-founder Jhiselle Feanny] and friends who are unhappy with the verdict and who still have questions about the circumstances of her death.
Women are more likely than men to die in suspicious circumstances in falls from height. Through intimate interviews with bereaved families, experts, campaigners and law enforcement, the documentary explores the challenges police face investigating these cases, and the growing campaign for “Bee’s Law”, which would encourage such scenes to be treated more consistently as potential crime scenes.
Taking Stacey into a little understood and deeply troubling world, this powerful film examines grief, justice and the difficult questions surrounding women who die after falling from height in the context of abusive relationships.’
NCVPP Report
Following Killed Women’s Fallen Women campaign, which launched in March 2024 and calls for the deaths of all women who have fallen from a height to be reviewed by police to identify whether domestic abuse may have been a feature, the NCVPP's annual ‘Domestic Homicides and Suspected Victim Suicides Report’ now contains coding and recording of deaths specifically involving a fall from height.
This year's newly published report, covering 2020–2025, states (pp. 24–6): “In Year 5 (April 2024 – March 2025) there were 18 reported cases of deaths involving a fall from height, compared to 21 victims (associated with 22 suspects) reported in updated figures covering the previous four-year period (April 2020 to March 2024, excluding one case of child death). Therefore, across all five years there were 39 victims reported to have died following a fall from height, accounting for approximately 3% of deaths overall (1452).”
The report continues: “The analytical focus on this method of death and requests to forces to submit these cases are likely to have improved understanding and awareness of such cases involving a history of domestic abuse.”
The Push: Murder on the Cliff
The Fallen Women campaign opening coincided with the Channel 4 documentary ‘The Push: Murder on the Cliff’, which follows the case of Fawziyah Javed, who died after being pushed off Arthur’s Seat in Edinburgh by her husband in 2021.
Fawziyah’s mother Yasmin, a member of the Killed Women network, said: “Domestic abusers will continue to get away with murder if we don’t ensure the cases of so-called fallen women are rigorously investigated by authorities. We must have a system that delivers justice for these women.”
‘The Push’ has won ‘Best Programme’ at the Asian Media Awards and ‘Best Documentary Series’ at the Grierson Awards. This telling of Fawziyah’s story has helped people leave abusive relationships and saved lives around the world.
Launched in March 2024, Killed Women’s Fallen Women campaign calls for the deaths of all women who have fallen from a height to be reviewed by police to identify whether domestic abuse may have been a feature.
We want official data collection to track the number of women who die after falling from a height each year, and believe that domestic abuse should be a key line of inquiry for police in all such cases.
Criminologist Professor Jane Monckton Smith estimates there are around 130 primarily female victims killed every year in England and Wales whose deaths are not investigated or prosecuted as homicides.