DUSHANBE, January 25, 2010, Asia-Plus  -- 133 cases of suicide were registered in the Khatlon province last year, Jurakhon Madiyev, chief of the Khatlon police directorate staff, announced at a roundtable meeting entitled “Suicide in Khatlon: Ways of Solution of the Problem” in Qurghon Teppa on January 22, according to the Dushanbe Office of the Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR).

According to him, of those who committed suicide last year, 73 are women and 20 are minors (10 underage girls and 10 underage boys).  The highest suicide rates are among women aged 18 to 30 and investigation findings show that in the majority of cases, suicides were caused by domestic violence, Madiyev stressed.

Speaking at the meeting, Ms. Qimmatgul Aliberdiyeva, the first deputy chairperson of the Committee for Family ad Women’s Affairs under the Government of Tajikistan, noted that the suicide problem has become topical for Tajikistan recently.   To solve this problem it is necessary to consolidate efforts of the whole society and raise legal awareness of women, who are a particularly high-risk group, she noted.

According to the IWPR Dushanbe Office, the meeting, which is part of the project, Protection and Human Rights Education through Media in Central Asia, which is implemented by IWPR under financial support of the European Union, was organized by IWPR in cooperation with the public association, Payom.  The event brought together representatives from the Khatlon police directorate, committee for family and women’s affairs, Tajik National Human Rights Institution, clerics as well as representatives of civil sector and media to discuss ways to stem an increase in the number of suicides in the area.

The meeting resulted in adoption of a number of recommendations for the government institutions, NGOs and media on the solution of the problem.

IWPR has already held similar meetings in the Sughd province and Gorno Badakhshan. The main objective of these meetings is in discussing the problem with all interested sides and developing recommendations that could help reduce the suicide rate.

In the framework work of the Protection and Human Rights Education through Media in Central Asia Project, IWPR supports human rights activists in all Central Asia’s countries to develop efficient media strategies, raises their awareness and provides human rights information to the whole society.  The project promotes sustainable partnership between media organizations, journalists and human rights community.