The women’s suicide rate in Iran is the highest in the Middle East
On World Suicide Prevention Day, September 10, provides an opportunity to overview the shocking annual statistics of 41,000 suicides in Iran.
The Welfare Organization’s Social Affairs deputy announced the deaths of 41,000 people annually due to suicides in Iran. “Many may go to the hospital for suicide attempts, which are not registered at all,” he added. (The state-run khabaronline.ir – July 21, 2021)
This figure is related to fatal suicides in Iran. According to Habibollah Massoudi Farid, if we multiply the number of suicides leading to death by 30, we get the total number of suicides attempts. Accordingly, the shocking number of suicide attempts in Iran adds up to 1.2 million every year.
“Suicide is like a pyramid. The floor of this pyramid belongs to economic problems, mental disorders, etc. Psychological violence is generally unheard of, and we are unaware of many of these cases,” Massoudi Farid added in another part of his interview.
The existence of 7 million people who either have no jobs or have jobs with no security coupled with the decline of people’s tolerance threshold has caused more people to commit suicide in utter despair. (The state-run khabaronline.ir – July 21, 2021)
Ilam province in western Iran has the highest number of suicide attempts in Iran.
The upward growth of suicides in Iran
On January 20, 2021, the state-run Etemadonline.com reported that according to forensic statistics, suicide has increased by 4.2 percent since March 2020 compared to the same period last year.
The head of the Social Affairs Organization, Taghi Rostamvandi, had previously stated that the suicide rate in Iran had increased by four to five percent annually over the past seven years. (The state-run Asriran.com – February 7, 2021)
The data on the suicide of adolescents in Iran from March 2020 to March 2021 indicates that the suicide age has dropped. Young Iranians attempt suicide because of poverty and other social disorders.
In the two years since the Coronavirus outbreak in Iran, the signs of depression, stress, and anxiety among different population segments have increased by 30%.
Increased contact with the social emergency indicates an increase in violence in the community due to economic problems. These calls have increased seven to eight times.
Girl children also commit suicide
The fatal suicide of an 11-year-old girl in Dishmok in February 2021 triggered the release of some statistics on girls’ suicide.
Dishmok is a small county with 23,000 residents in the southwestern Kohgiluyeh and Boyer Ahmad province. Most girls in this county drop out of school at a young age and are forced into early marriages. Many eventually end up committing suicide by burning themselves in a fire.
“Therehave been 60 suicide attempts in the region over the past three to four years. Most of these people were women, and 35% of their attempts were successful,” said Salman Bina, Dishmok’s City Council member. (The state-run ILNA news agency – February 14, 2021)
Iran holds the record for female suicide in the Middle East
The female suicide rate in Iran is the highest in the Middle East. Iranian women also rank first in “self-immolation” in the Middle East.
“40 percent of suicides in the country are through self-immolation,” said Zahra Hazrati, a sociologist, to a conference at Tehran’s School of Social Sciences in June 2016. (The state-run BORNA news agency – September 6, 2019)
Increasing pressure and restrictions on Iranian women, numerous barriers against their employment and social activities, marriage laws, and growing poverty have led to widespread depression and frustration among women and high female suicide rates in Iran.
The rising trend of suicides in Iran and, in particular, the high number of female suicides is one of the consequences of the clerical regime’s sinister rule.
Like all the other problems in Iran, the only way to restore the passion and hope of life is to get rid of this inhuman, predatory and ruthless regime. The regime officials think of nothing but to preserve their rule and interests, and the people’s lives and health are of no value to them.
The people of Iran are determined to overthrow the mullahs’ evil regime and establish a democratic Iran where popular sovereignty reigns supreme. Iranian women are the regime’s prime victims and, therefore, the prime force for change in Iran.
