Afghanistan is one of the few countries where the suicide rate is higher among women than among men

In an article published on Monday, August 28, the British newspaper Keeper highlights the mental health crisis that has rocked Afghanistan since the Taliban took power in August 2021. Women are the first to be hit, and they are also being hit hard by the repressive policies that are multiplying in the country.

The suicide rate among women is skyrocketing

Since the Taliban took power in 2021, the number of women committing or attempting to commit suicide has increased dramatically. This is revealed by data collected by public hospitals and mental health clinics in a third of Afghan provinces.

As traced by Keeper, the Taliban authorities have not released official data on suicides and are even preventing health workers from sharing updated statistics in many provinces. At least that’s what local doctors say, who have nevertheless agreed to share their data for the period August 2021-August 2022 with our British colleagues, in order to highlight the urgent public health crisis that is affecting the country.

Afghanistan is one of the few countries where more women than men commit suicide

According to WHO data, on average there are twice as many men as women in the world commit suicide. Until 2019 (the latest year for which official data is available), Afghanistan was no exception to the rule.

Today hospital data suggest it Afghanistan has become one of the few countries in the world where more women than men die by suicidewith a drastically increasing rate.

Of the 11 provinces studied, men account for the majority of deaths and suicide attempts in only one of them. Elsewhere, women and girls account for more than three-quarters of recorded suicide deaths and treated survivors.

“A growing number of women feel that death is preferable to life under current circumstances”

The United Nations and human rights activists have been sounding the alarm for some time now. The latter explicitly establish a link with the restrictions imposed by the Taliban, reports the Keeper, “whether it’s a ban on higher education at the elementary level, a ban on most workplaces, or a ban on parks, bathhouses and other public spaces”.

According to Alison Davidian, Afghan representative of UN Women, quoted by Keeper, “Afghanistan is experiencing a mental health crisis precipitated by a women’s rights crisis (…). We are witnessing a time when an increasing number of women and girls consider death preferable to life under current circumstances”..

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