Why suicide among young women is increasing in Indian society?

Table of Contents

Q9. Why suicide among young women is increasing in Indian society? – Society

भारतीय समाज में नवयुवतियों में आत्महत्या क्यों बढ़ रही है? स्पष्ट कीजिए।

Introduction

The act of killing or ending one’s own life is suicide. When a number of people commit suicide in a society, suicides are calculated according to the proportion of suicides per 1,000,000 (one million) population per year. This is the suicide rate.

[Data – However, there is an emerging trend of more women suicides visible in contemporary Indian society According to NCRB, Out of the 1.6 lakh persons who died by suicide last year, 45,026 were females, up from 44,498 in 2020. It translates into nearly 1 every 9 minutes. Over half of them – 23,178 – were housewives. On an average.

Extra: (63 housewives died by suicide daily in India in 2021).]

Reasons for the increasing no. of young women suicides in India:-

Family Problems: Responsible for 1/3rd of All women suicides.
Illness: The National Mental Health Survey (NMHS) 2015–16 found that almost 80% of those suffering from mental illnesses did not receive treatment for more than a year. Psychiatric illness often remains hidden as they carry a social stigma with them.
Marriage-related issues: Wife abuse is one of the most significant precipitants of female suicide. NFHS (2019-21) highlights limited mobility, restricted financial autonomy, and marital control as reasons. E.g.: Kerala woman being pressurized for selling her gold chain, attempted suicide in Wayanad this year.
Failure in an examination: Parental pressure, learning disabilities, exam stress, etc. often lead to suicides. Eg: Lady Sriram Student Aishwarya took her life due to her inability to buy a laptop for studies.
Cyberbullying and revenge pornography
Love Affair/marriage
Impotency/Infertility: The women in India are invariably blamed for infertility.
Bankruptcy/Indebtedness: Unable to bear torture, a woman in Katihar of Bihar died by suicide this year.

Solutions:

Socialisation: Should be gendered. Boys need to be taught to respect and not denigrate women.
Mental Health: Needs to be de-stigmatized and Mental healthcare should be focused. Kiran helpline and MANAS app.
Financial empowerment: The number of suicides reduces as women become more financially empowered.
Parental participation as well as community support for de-stressing students: Gujarat’s school-based suicide prevention program named Suicide Prevention & Implementation Research Initiative (SPIRIT) for students between 14 and 16 years of age.
Strict enforcement of the prohibition of forced marriages, dowry, and child marriage.
Reduce media portrayal of women dying by suicide due to interpersonal conflicts.
Align National efforts with WHO’s LIVE LIFE programme to bring comprehensive reforms for prevention of women’s suicides.