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July 25, 2008 10:02:09 PM CDT

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Suicide Rises Among Young Chinese Women

Posted May 15, 07 8:13 AM CDT in World,  Glossies 

(Newser) – Young, rural women in China are killing themselves at startling rates. In a country whose overall suicide rate is double the American, suicides are shooting up among young wives caught between the promise of modernizing cities and the traditional subservience of women that persists in the countryside. "Whenever their dreams and reality don't match, they attempt suicide," says a nonprofit worker.

The suicide rate in China is 25% higher for women than men, and three times as high for rural Chinese than citydwellers. Anything from years of abuse to a simple household argument may precipitate it. "I never thought of leaving my husband. Where else can I go?" says one woman who attempted to kill herself by drinking pesticides.

Source Washington Post

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CHINA. Harvesting the rice crop without mechanisation is still the way of life for millions in China's countryside. Here neighbours help each other with the first steps of the harvest. Chan (LON65972)   (Magnum Photos)
A rural woman arranges her water pipes which are used to pump...   (Getty Images)
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China  • women  • suicide  • women's rights  • abuse  • suicide rate  • modernization


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