Women suicide rates in India is Shocking - Women's Day special Article

Women suicide rates in India is Shocking.

This topic does not highly come in news. It happens in every part of our country, either knowingly or unknowingly. 

According to a report from the October 2018 issue of The Lancet Public Health, report says that over 36.6 per cent of global women suicides happens in India. Most of them are well educated and young. This doesn't mean village women didn't do that. It comes to light only in rare cases. Some are filed cases like house accidents, some are considered as natural deaths due to illness. 

The notable point here is that most of them were married women. It happens mostly because of domestic violence. Harming women in the name of culture. Even when they covey their pain to parents, they say to adjust and live. Reasons like Early marriage, low socioeconomic status, dowry etc paves way for suicide.  According to data from India’s National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB). about 63 housewives kill themselves every day in 2018. Almost 20,000 housewives attempted suicide and died from 2000.

Deepa Narayan, a social scientist, author of the book "Chup: Breaking the Silence About India’s Women", said that “Women are very excited about the wedding itself but when the reality of the marriage hits, it becomes an abusive prison” .

“At least 50% of all the suicides among women could be dowry-related, but they are underreported because the parents of the girl are involved in dowry giving, and giving the dowry is also a crime,” said Donna Fernandes of Vimochana, an NGO working for women’s rights. 

Women depending on others for their basic needs may be also a reason behind it. 

A woman is the father's daughter, after the husband's wife and after the son's/daughter's mother. There is no self showing.

Those who are victims of domestic violence can't raise their voice against the family who made this, because if done, where the victim will go then for food and shelter as she doesn't have any source. That's a big question.

The 9th leading cause of death is suicide in 2016. Most of them are well educated, in good socio-economic status and married. 

This may be because of the increase of nuclear families, which increased the burden towards woman twice as the older. They have to work and earn money at the same time want to do all the household chores.

Until 2017, Suicide attempt was a crime. Those who attempted suicide should have up to one-year imprisonment or a fine or both. In 2017 laws changed. Now suicide attempt was no more criminal attempt. The government now taking care of the victims. But still, there is a problem in law. Those who attempted suicide must have severe mental pressure to consider it as a non-criminal case, otherwise, it's a punishable offence. 

“I think it’s fear of being judged and the stigma,” says Sunitha Ramachandram, shift coordinator at Samaritans Mumbai, a suicide hotline that has been active since 1993.

“Mental illness carries a lot of stigma in our community and a student or a young person would never want their peer to know their weakness, however, close they may be.”

That's why anonymous call care centres become popular

“When I am well, I think suicide is stupid. Who does that? Why would anyone do that? But I have my phases when it seems like the most logical option" - A Suicide attempter.

When we came to know about a person who attempted suicide, we think they are mentally ill, but we didn't consider that many external, social pressures made them take that extreme step.

“Husband’s alcoholism is one of the top reasons women give when we quiz them later about why they tried to commit suicide,” said Dr Anish Cherian, from the Department of Psychiatric Social Work at National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS), Bangalore.

Suicide rates are especially high in southern Indian states, where development and social advances have accelerated. 

These suicide attempts were caused due to the disconnection between women’s ambitions and societal expectations. When these two correlates and connected there will be more successful women in India.

Women are power, we should not give pressure on them in the name of culture or society. The power can able to transform India into a better place than before. Domestic violence can be eliminated only if our thinking gets changed. Remember women is also a human being, don't glorify them as god or defame to the extreme. Think like a human being and treat as the same.

 No more suicides. Talk to others freely, share your feelings. If not able to do, call an anonymous care centre and get out of your suicide thoughts.

+91-8322252525 - Love Laugh Foundation

+91-9820466726 - AASRA Suicide Prevention and Counselling NGO

080 25497777 - SAHAI

011-23389090 - Sumaitri

+91 7926305544 - Saath

References:

[1] https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/hsph-in-the-news/india-women-suicide/

[2] https://www.indiaspend.com/amp/why-indian-housewives-are-killing-themselves/

[3] https://amp.theguardian.com/world/2018/sep/13/nearly-two-out-of-five-women-who-commit-suicide-are-indian

[4] https://www.aljazeera.com/amp/features/2019/6/27/why-does-india-account-for-37-percent-of-female-suicides

[5]https://www.trtworld.com/magazine/why-are-female-suicides-most-common-in-india-20943/amp

[6]https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/more-than-a-third-of-female-suicides-are-committed-by-indian-women/

Happy Women's Day

- TEAM 2020 HELPERS