International Women’s Day is an annual day of celebration on March 8, observed with a focus on issues such as gender equality, women’s empowerment, and reproductive rights. As a day dedicated to celebrating women and their achievements, it is also an opportunity for all of us to work towards providing equal opportunities and inclusion for women everywhere. The theme for this year is “Count Her In: Invest in Women. Accelerate Progress”. This is a crucial step towards empowering women and girls and achieving gender equality, the fifth of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
There is a pressing need to address mental health concerns and suicidal behaviour affecting millions of women worldwide. Although the WHO Global Health Estimates (2019) suggest that men are more likely to die by suicide than women, studies have found that women are more likely than men to self-harm and attempt suicide more than once. Contributing risk factors include gender-based violence, economic inequality, discrimination, and lack of access to mental health services.
Due to limited evidence on risk factors of suicidal behaviour in women and girls and effective interventions, IASP has established a ‘Suicide in Women and Girls Taskforce’ that aims to understand data trends, influencing factors, and effective interventions around female suicidal behaviour and encourage the development of evidence-based, evaluated approaches and interventions to preventing suicide in women and younger girls. The taskforce consists of expertise from across the globe, from related research communities, lived experience, and minority and vulnerable groups. Some of the expected outcomes of this 12-member taskforce include a systematic review of the problem and existing interventions, policy and programme recommendations, advocacy and awareness resources, and expertise and experience in tackling the issues of increasing rates of female suicide.
On this important global day, IASP reaffirms its commitment to invest in women and accelerate progress. IASP calls for increased awareness and support for women’s empowerment, inclusion, and women-focused suicide prevention initiatives globally; we strive to ensure and sustain ongoing efforts to promote gender-sensitive approaches to suicide prevention. Addressing the systemic problems and reducing women’s vulnerability to suicide requires both government action and policy reforms.
