Centre for Pesticide Suicide Prevention, and Pharmacology, Toxicology & Therapeutics, University/BHF Centre for Cardiovascular Science, University of Edinburgh, PTT, QMRI E3.22a, 47 Little France Crescent, Edinburgh EH16 4TJ, UK.
Centre for Pesticide Suicide Prevention, University of Edinburgh, 47 Little France Cres, Edinburgh EH16 4TJ, UK.
Int J Law Psychiatry. 2022 Jul-Aug;83:101796. doi: 10.1016/j.ijlp.2022.101796. Epub 2022 May 17.
In 2018-2019, according to the official statistics, 5754 people died as a result of suicide in Nepal. This is a high number for a country with a population of 29 million people. Experts believe that the actual rate is considerably higher and that many suicides are not reported. This underreporting of suicide is frequently blamed on the stigma and the criminality of attempted suicide. Yet, there has never been a criminal liability for attempted suicide in Nepal. This article discusses the reasons for the perception of the criminality of attempted suicide in the country, its consequences, and the ways of addressing them. We found that the involvement of the police at the initial stages of suicide investigation confirms public perceptions that attempted suicide is a punishable offense and this may reinforce the stigma of suicide. Recent criminalization of the abetment of suicide has contributed to this perception as the public may not be clear about the distinction between abetment of suicide and attempted suicide. Criminalization of suicide not in the laws but in minds discourages reporting and help-seeking behaviour and victimizes people who need support and services. We argue that decriminalization is more than removing the outdated legal clauses from the legal statutes, but also public awareness raising about the reasons for police investigation of suspicious deaths, sensitivity training, and education of government officials, policymakers, and police about suicide and its prevention. These are needed to dispel the myth of criminalization of attempted suicide in Nepal. Our findings could be of wider interest to scholars working on reducing the stigma of suicide and decriminalization of suicide attempts.
2018-2019 年，根据官方统计，尼泊尔共有 5754 人自杀身亡。对于一个拥有 2900 万人口的国家来说，这个数字相当高。专家认为，实际自杀率要高得多，而且许多自杀事件并未上报。自杀事件未上报的情况频繁归咎于自杀未遂的耻辱感和犯罪感。然而，尼泊尔从未对自杀未遂行为追究刑事责任。本文讨论了该国对自杀未遂行为的犯罪感的原因、后果以及解决这些问题的方法。我们发现，警方在自杀调查的初始阶段介入，证实了公众对自杀未遂是一种应受惩罚的犯罪行为的看法，这可能会加剧自杀的耻辱感。最近，教唆自杀的行为被刑事定罪也促成了这种看法，因为公众可能不清楚教唆自杀和自杀未遂之间的区别。自杀未遂行为非罪化，而不是法律上非罪化，会阻碍报告和寻求帮助的行为，使需要支持和服务的人受害。我们认为，非刑罪化不仅仅是从法律法规中删除过时的法律条款，还包括提高公众对警方调查可疑死亡事件原因的认识、敏感性培训，以及对政府官员、政策制定者和警察进行关于自杀及其预防的教育。这些措施对于消除尼泊尔对自杀未遂行为的犯罪化的误解是必要的。我们的研究结果可能会引起那些致力于减少自杀耻辱感和自杀未遂非刑罪化的学者的广泛关注。
