Eswatini ranked 3rd in suicides
MBABANE – Eswatini is facing a suicide crisis, mostly among men.
The 0 :orld 3opulation 5e view reports that (swatini is ranNed third globally out of countries.
It has been observed that 0 per cent of the people committing su icide are men.
The report puts /esotho, (swatini, South $frica, %otswana, =imba bwe and 0o]ambique in the top $frican countries with the highest number of reported suicides glob ally, with /esotho and (swatini in the top .
In $frica and across the world, there is still a significant gap be tween male and female suicide rates.
In /esotho, the suicide rate is per 00 000 persons, but breaNing it down between men and women, it is and 0, respectively.
Average
The same is true for (swatini, where the average rate is per 00 000, but the difference between men and women is against . .
Sidumo /uNhele, +ealth 3ro motion Officer in the 0inistry of +ealth, said most men never survive once they decide to end their lives.
/uNhele said by being men, they do everything to their fullest by not leaving any room for failure.
³0en apply every force when doing things, that is why it becomes difficult for them to survive. If a man uses a gun, he maNes sure that he aims at a spot where it will be hard to miss the target. Those who end their lives by hanging them selves, they tie the rope so hard such that it becomes difficult to unfasten it,” he said.
On another note, /uNhele said women were not resolute when committing suicide and thus be came the most survivors. In /uN hele¶s observation, one of the rea sons women survive is that of being feminine. +e said women talN about the issues they face with their fami lies and thus come up with solutions to their problems.
+e then urged men to consult organisations such as .waNha Ind vod]a for help at any time they feel engulfed by problems.
.waNha Indvod]a (xecutive Di rector Sonic Dlamini said the find ings of the study ranNing (swatini as the third country plagued by the suicide crisis were shocNing.
+e, however, acNnowledged men were increasingly taNing their lives because they deliberately avoid sharing their problems with other people, who might help them to re solve them, hence they feel neglect ed and less important in society.
+e said institutions such as police, hospitals and families have not been conducive for men, resulting in them having no one to talN to. ³Due to that, several men then decide to commit suicide due to loneliness,” Dlamini said.
+e went on to say ³I blame the introduction of the Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence SODV $ct 1o. of 0 , because it is misused by some people. :e have a few cases of men who were arrest ed for crimes which they have not committed. &hildren were made to testify in court, maNing men lose those cases,” he said.
Disrespected
The .waNha Indvod]a executive director also stated that men commit suicide if they feel disrespected by their loved ones, maNing them feel undignified.
$s a solution to the issue at hand, Dlamini suggested that there must be a sort of balancing on how laws are applied to both women and men and also have institutions designat ed to offer counselling and mental health services for men.
5ecently, the Times of (swatini published a story of a year old businessman of .a1dlelalula, Siphocisini, who was found hanging from a tree near /uphohlo Dam. +e was found by police officers already unresponsive.
5ichard Duma Dlamini was also found in a forest next to the /uphohlo Dam and the reasons for taNing his life were not Nnown.
Dlamini was found hanging from a tree by a family member after spotting his car in the forest.