Suicide in Afghanistan

Suicide is not a significant social issue in Afghanistan as Afghanistan has one of the lowest suicide rates in the world.[1]

Although some British media channels claim that 80 percent of suicide attempts in Afghanistan are made by women, such claims contradict the reality. In reality, suicides by men account for two-thirds of suicides.[2] British media channels claim that the reasons of female suicides include mental health problems, domestic violence, forced marriages, and abuse.[3]

Suicide is one of the biggest sins and is Haraam in Islam, the official and majority religion in Afghanistan.[3]

In mid-to-late 2023, predominately Western media outlets collectively reported a spike in women committing suicide in Afghanistan had been observed that year. [4][5][6][7][8] The majority of coverage directly asserted suicide rates among women have climbed, specifically, under the Taliban government's rule it had recaptured two years prior. The reporting was substantiated by unprovided documents that journalists at the Guardian asserted were provided to them by healthcare providers operating in Afghanistan and in touch with Western media intermediaries, privately and presumably outside the Taliban government's knowledge or consent.

The latest available formal numbers show that more men killed themselves in the country than women. The Taliban government do not report on suicides and it is unclear how the data differentiates between suicides and survived attempts.

According to the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission, many suicides in Afghanistan are not reported.[3]

Suicides per 100,000 people according to the World Health Organization (age adjusted)[9]
Sex 2000 2010 2015 2016
Both sexes 8.1 7.4 6.6 6.4
Male 14.3 12.5 10.9 10.6
Female 1.7 2.1 2.1 2.1

See also

References

  1. ^ "Age-standardized suicide rates (per 100 000 population)". WHO Data. 18 January 2025.
  2. ^ "Age-standardized suicide rates (per 100 000 population)". WHO Data. 18 January 2025.
  3. ^ a b c Safi, Sana (July 1, 2018). "Why female suicide in Afghanistan is so prevalent". BBC News. Retrieved April 26, 2020.
  4. ^ Nader, Zahra; reporters, Zan Times (2023-08-28). "'Despair is settling in': female suicides on rise in Taliban's Afghanistan". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2023-12-27.
  5. ^ Coren, Hilary Whiteman, Anna (2023-12-16). "Oppressed by the Taliban, she swallowed acid. Now her siblings are trying to save her life". CNN. Retrieved 2023-12-27.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  6. ^ Millender, Michaela (2023-09-07). "IntelBrief: Two Years After the Taliban Takeover, a Surge of Suicides Among Afghan Women". The Soufan Center. Retrieved 2023-12-27.
  7. ^ "Women and Suicide in Afghanistan". www.wilsoncenter.org. Retrieved 2023-12-27.
  8. ^ Afghanistan sees spike in suicide attempts among girls | CNN, 2023-12-18, retrieved 2023-12-27
  9. ^ "Suicide rate estimates, age-standardized Estimates by country". World Health Organization. Retrieved April 26, 2020.

Further reading

  • Gobar, Asad Hassan (May 1970). "Suicide in Afghanistan". The British Journal of Psychiatry. 116 (534): 493–496. doi:10.1192/bjp.116.534.493.
  • Paiman, Mohammad Akbar; Khan, Murad Moosa (April 2017). "Suicide and deliberate self-harm in Afghanistan". Asian Journal of Psychiatry. 26: 29–31. doi:10.1016/j.ajp.2017.01.004.
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