Western Provinces See 30 Percent Increase in Suicide Attempts
Tuesday, August 17, 2004 9:45 AM

"Iran Daily" reported on 16 August that there has been a marked increase in suicide attempts in the Kermanshah and Ilam provinces since 2001, particularly among women resorting to self-immolation. Hadi Motamedi of the Office for Social Disorders of the State Welfare Organization said that a survey carried out in Kermanshah Province, where the number of suicides has increased by 37 percent in the past three years, found that more than 50 percent of women there suffer from depression, of whom about 15 percent attempt suicide. Motamedi said that the eight-year war with Iraq left these women vulnerable to mental illness. "These women have been suffering from dual deprivations due to being unaware of their rights," Motamedi said. "Factors such as a rise in education level, lack of jobs, lack of access of counselors and psychiatrists, mistreatment, and abuse by their spouses, family violence, [a] growing awareness of social conditions, and inappropriate family behavior and relations can induce suicide attempts among women." Motamedi said that he hopes the newly created Welfare and Social Security Ministry will effectively address the problem. KR

Cited from: Western Provinces See 30 Percent Increase in Suicides, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 17 August 2004.  Copyright (c) 2004. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. www.rferl.org