WINNING THE GLOBAL WAR AGAINST SUICIDE – PART 2

The global war against suicide which was initiated by the Global Suicide Prevention Squad has moved a step further in its quest to rid India, and indeed, the rest of the world of suicide by 2025 and 2030 respectively. This time, however, the war was taken to both the transgender and law enforcement communities in India.

Transgender Communities in India

Based on the 2011 Census of India, the transgender population was 487,803. Today, it is thought be nearing the 1 million mark, if not more. According to Wikipedia, a transgender person (often abbreviated to trans person) is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through transitioning, often adopting a different name and set of pronouns in the process. Additionally, they may undergo sex reassignment therapies such as hormone therapy and sex reassignment surgery to more closely align their primary and secondary sex characteristics with their gender identity. Not all transgender people desire these treatments, however, and others may be unable to access them for financial or medical reasons. Those who do desire to medically transition to another sex may identify as transsexual.

_{Photo: Front Row – Mr. Isaac Agarwal (Middle) with some facilitators, counsellors and advisors during the workshop}

In India, transgender people face severe structural discrimination and abuse, including emotional torture and societal neglect. According to Justice KS Radhakrishnan, the transgender community in India is “…extremely vulnerable to harassment, violence and sexual assault in public spaces, at home and in jail, also by the police. Sexual assault, including molestation, rape, forced anal and oral sex, gang rape and stripping is being committed with impunity and there are reliable statistics and materials to support such activities”. Many others were often denied social amenities, including obtaining Drivers License and other social benefits. In some extreme cases, transgender people were ostracized from their communities.

Although the Supreme Court of India declared transgender to be a ‘third gender’ in Indian law in April 2014, the discriminatory culture is still embedded in the society while the systematic deprivations has led many transgender people to become suicidal with rising cases of mental illness among the communities.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has identified stigma, particularly surrounding mental disorders and suicide, as a major impediment to the war against suicide. This means that many people thinking of taking their own life or who have attempted suicide are not seeking help and are therefore not getting the help they need. The prevention of suicide has not been adequately addressed due to a lack of awareness of suicide as a major public health problem and the taboo in many societies to openly discuss it. To date, only a few countries have included suicide prevention among their health priorities and only 38 countries report having a national suicide prevention strategy.

The WHO therefore recommended raising community awareness and breaking down the taboo as a panacea for countries to make progress in preventing suicide.

_{Photos: A Cross-section of transgender people listening with rapt attention during the workshop in Nahur, Mubai.}

The Global Suicide Prevention Squad, in its determination to stop this ugly suicidal trend, recently held a ‘Suicide Prevention’ workshop with the transgender community in association with Karunya Trust at Nahur, Mumbai on 25th Jan 2023. According to the Founder of the Global Suicide Prevention Squad, Mr. Isaac Agarwal, “the suicide rate among this community is between 30% – 51%. By the age of 20 almost all would have attempted suicide at least once”.

The Law Enforcement Connection

Part of the government’s response to the increasing rate of suicide in India is the empowerment of strategic agencies of government to be able to deal effectively with the menace. Apart from the multi-sectoral approach by sectors such as health, education, and social services, law enforcement agencies such as the Police are also critical to, not only responding to incidents of suicides, but also deescalating suicidal red flags and managing post-incident activities, especially with the families and friends of victims and the affected communities. This is why the Global Suicide Prevention Squad extended its activities to personnel of the India Police Force on 28th January 2023, when it organized a training workshop for police officers at Kharkar Alley, Thane West, with many more already scheduled for the coming weeks and months.

_{A cross-section of Police Officers listening with rapt attention during the training}

According to Mr. Isaac Agarwal, “The trauma and stress of responding to crises also contributes to suicide risks within the police force. Our workshops not only train them in providing support to survivors at the scene of a suicide, but also helps the officers in maintaining their own personal well being.”

_{Photo: Mr. Isaac Agarwal addressing Police Officers during the training program}

The GLOBAL SUICIDE PREVENTION SQUAD under ‘Kinging Youth Foundation’, is on a mission to make India suicide-free by 31st December 2025 and the world suicide-free by 31st December 2030.

For more information on how to partner with them, kindly visit ispsquad.com or simply call +91 9820235134, +91 9820785150.

WINNING THE GLOBAL WAR AGAINST SUICIDE

There is a different kind of pandemic secretly ravaging the world today and it’s not Covid-19 or any infectious disease of any sort. Neither is it war or hunger. It is SUICIDE. The alarming rates at which people of all races, religion, social status, age and education are resorting to taking their own lives either out of frustration, despair, poverty, abuse, peer pressure, or general conflicts have reached alarming scales to warrant global efforts aimed at reversing this ugly tide.

The World Health Organization (WHO) recently reported that about 730,000 people commit suicide annually. The global health institution said in every 45 seconds someone dies of suicide around the world., explaining that for each suicide, approximately 135 people suffer intense grief, “resulting in 108 million people, annually, who are profoundly impacted by suicidal behaviours.” Furthermore, the WHO stated that for every suicide, there are many more people who attempt suicide. It went on to state that suicide is the fourth leading cause of death among 15-29 year-olds, while 77% of global suicides occur in low- and middle-income countries. These are worrisome statistics especially considering the rising cases of suicide amongst teenagers and young adults.

While there are no known single most critical cause of suicide, it has been observed that mental health challenges, peer pressures, financial difficulties, abusive relationships, dysfunctional families, bullying, proliferation of firearms, alcohol, and sexual exploitation amongst others have been indicated as contributory factors to the rising cases of suicides around the world.

Every suicide is a tragedy that affects families, communities and entire countries and has long-lasting effects on the people left behind. Suicide occurs in both low-income and high-income countries, and is a global phenomenon in all regions of the world irrespective of sex, age and religion. Although suicide is a serious public health problem, it is however preventable with timely, evidence-based and often low-cost interventions by both the public and private sectors.

Global Suicide Prevention Squad

Fortunately, there is a private sector-led global initiative to mitigate this development especially among the upwardly mobile demography, including children and young adults, which is championed by the Global Suicide Prevention Squad, led by Mr. Isaac Agarwal, based out of Mumbai, India. According to Mr. Isaac Agarwal, the Global Suicide Prevention Squad Founded since 2017 is “doing our part to solve the problem by conducting Suicide Prevention – Awareness and Training programs, for students, teachers and parents in thousands of school across India, with a goal to make India Suicide Free by 31st December 2025”. This is being accomplished through their regular suicide prevention and awareness programs where they provide expert advise, guidance, counselling and other intervention resources to young people in schools, as well as professionals in their workplaces around the world. So far, the Global Suicide Prevention Squad has reached over 500,986 people till date, saving over 21,675 lives.

^{Picture 1: Above: Mr. Isaac Agarwal conducting Suicide Prevention and Awareness Training for personnel of NSCDC in Port Harcourt Nigeria}

According to information available on their website, the Global Suicide Prevention Squad employs a unique philosophy to pursue its goals of ending suicide in India by 2025. This philosophy is called Jeeva Mein Asha Hai which literally means “There’s Hope in Life”.

^{Picture 2 & 3}: ^{Mr. Isaac Agarwal and his colleague conducting Suicide Prevention and Awareness Training for young people in India}

JEEVAN MEIN ASHA HAI (There is Hope in Life)

 Jeevan Mein Asha Hai ( There is Hope in Life) is a initiative of Kinging Youth Foundation, which is another of their vehicles for achieving a suicide-free world.  According to them “The Core Vision of this program is to have a suicide-free world by 31st December 2030. We aim to achieve the same by raising  15 million (1 crore 50 lakh) volunteers in India, 2 million (20 Lakh) in Nigeria, 80 million (8 Crore) volunteers called JEEVAN RAKSHAKS (LIFE SAVIOURS) worldwide.” Thus, with this global army of people dedicated to spreading the message of hope in life rather than despair, the Global Suicide Prevention Squad hopes to eradicate suicides in the world. They are the true Life Savers!

Become A Life Saviour (JEEVAN RAKSHAK)

A Life Saviour is Jeevan Rakshak in Hindi and according to the Global Suicide Prevention Squad, a Life Saver has three key responsibilities which includes:

1) Acting as early warning mechanisms for recognizing suicidal red flags in people in their circle of influence

2) Responding as the first line of defense against suicide by counselling the individuals at such early stages

3) Guiding them to an experts for further professional treatment via the comprehensive Suicide Prevention Program

PREVENTING SUICIDE

According to the WHO, Suicide prevention efforts require coordination and collaboration among multiple sectors of society, including the health sector and other sectors such as education, labour, agriculture, business, justice, law, defence, politics, and the media. These efforts must be comprehensive and integrated as no single approach alone can make an impact on an issue as complex as suicide. With more individual and group efforts such as those of the Global Suicide Prevention Squad, Kinging Youth Foundation, and their partners, eliminating, or at least, reducing the challenges of suicides in the world will not only be a possibility but also a reality.

For more information and enquiries on how you can partner with the Global Suicide Prevention Squad and Kinging Youth Foundation to eradicate suicidal tendencies in the world by 2030, please visit their website www.ispsquad.com or send an email to ispsquad1@gmail.com