One third of the suicides that occurred in Great Britain in the last year seemed to have been committed on the train tracks. Importantly, the part of the tracks where the majority of these suicides are happening runs through West London is a predominantly Asian community.
"Suicide on the railway is a national issue and is a terrible tragedy for all involved, including crews. First Great Western has seen a number of suicides on the main line in an area west of London. Victims may come from the communities where lines run through," a spokesperson for the train company was quoted as saying.According to figures, 80 out of the 240 rail suicides last year were on the lines into Paddington, west London. These pass through Slough, Southall and other areas with large Asian communities and carry one tenth of the rail traffic.
Meanwhile, a women’s rights organisation, Southall Black Sisters, has claimed that domestic violence are forcing more and more Asian women in Britain to commit suicide on railway tracks.
"The high instance of Asian women suicides is linked to abusive practices within Asian families. There is a correlation between these suicides and violence in homes. Psychiatric research has shown there are rarely cases of mental disorders in these cases, suggesting they are the result of social circumstances. These women are often isolated and find it hard to escape," Hannana Siddiqui from Southall Black Sisters, was quoted as saying.
That is pretty upsetting.
via Times of India.
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A post at Feministing highlights the apparently high rate of suicides amongst Asian women. Southall Black Sisters has claimed that domestic violence are forcing more and more Asian women in Britain to commit suicide on railway tracks. “The high i... Read More
I used to hear of train suicides often in Japan and was even on one that had to stop for investigation and clean up. I'm sorry to see this is starting to happen in other countries and because of abuse in the family.
Has anything been set up to help these women?
This is awful news but hardly surprising given the level of violence and intimidation directed at women in South Asian communities in Britain.
When I was living in London, Southall was the only place I could get my fix for cooking as good as my ma's but I would hate going there because men on the street would be leery, brush up against you and even creepier, sometimes follow you and sing at you. (Yes, this has actually happened to me.) That these men probably intimidate their wives, sisters and daughters doesn't seem like that much of a stretch, and unfortunately I have known too many women in the community who have been beaten, emotionally harassed or raped by their boyfriends and husbands.
How dreadful. I feel like it must be a bit more difficult to aid those in immigrant communities, as, like the article said, they tend to be more isolated, what with the cultural gap, so the rest of the country doesn't likely pay as much attention to them. I'm glad there's a group out there trying to help them, though.
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And for anyone who may not know, the term "Asian" in England refers to what Americans know of as South Asian - e.g., Indian or Pakistani, not East or Southeast Asian, e.g., Japanese, Korean, Laotian, and so on.
Its so strange, because in England, you don't even have to press charges for a man to be arrested on DV charges. The cops just have to...pretty much...feel like something bad is happening. Maybe more civic presence in those communities would deter both attackers and victims.
Did this really have to be a "quick hit"? That seems tacky.
yeah, "Quick Hit" not really appropriate at all on this one.