More than 700,000 people die by suicide every year. Many more attempt suicide but survive. The theme of this World Mental Health Day, on October 10, is to make mental health and wellbeing for all a global priority.
As part of achieving that ambition, we must give people the support they need so they do not reach a place where suicide seems the only way out.
And yet, many countries make providing that support more difficult by criminalising suicide.
There are still at least 20 countries worldwide where suicidal behaviour is a criminal offence, carrying a maximum penalty of up to three years in prison. Rather than being offered the support they need, survivors of suicide in these countries, often people with a pre-existing mental health condition, are either arrested or subjected to extortion along with their family members. Health workers and police officers often take advantage of the law and the suicide survivor’s vulnerable condition.
The law also finds ways to punish the deceased posthumously, as well as their families. Bangladesh, Kenya and the Bahamas, for instance, have provisions in place to invalidate the wills of those who have died by suicide, creating barriers in matters of succession and inheritance...
English (US) ·