Rakhshana stopped going to school as a young girl in Kabul when the Taliban-led government banned education for girls beyond primary school. Then she enrolled at a private center that offered English language classes. But that too was taken away when the center was shut down by the Taliban in June.
At age 18, Rakhshana, whose name was changed to protect her privacy, says that robbed of her plans and dreams for the future and she attempted to take her own life.
“The training center was my last hope to get an education. Its closure was the end of the world for me,” Rakhshana told RFE/RL. “I swallowed 12-15 pills that I found at home. I wanted to die, but unfortunately, I survived.”
Rakhshana's case is not isolated.
Suicide attempts and suicide rates have been rising in Afghanistan, especially among younger generations, since the return of the Taliban to power in August 2021, according to Afghan media, as well as local journalists, activists, and residents who spoke to RFE/RL.
There is no official data on suicide rates in Afghanistan, and the authorities in Kabul did not respond to RFE/RL’s multiple requests for information on the matter.
Etilaat Roz, a popular Afghan publication known for its investigative journalism, reported that at least 213 suicides took place in the country between April 2022 and April 2023. The following year, the Taliban-led Ministry of Interior announced that it has registered 360 suicides cases, showing an uptick in the trend.
RFE/RL could not independently verify the figures.
It is widely known majority of suicide cases in Afghanistan go unreported due to religious and cultural reasons. Taking one’s own life is forbidden in Islam. Families of those who commit suicide often hide the cause of their loved ones’ deaths.
Unemployment Key Driving Factor Behind Men’s Suicide
RFE/RL spoke to several survivors of suicide attempts as well as family members of those who had taken their own lives in recent months. While every person has their own unique circumstances, they all mentioned a feeling of hopelessness and a complete lack of opportunities as major issues.
According to the Afghan Witness project that collects information on human rights, security, and the political situation in Afghanistan, unemployment appeared to be a major contributing factor in suicides committed by younger males.
Factors behind suicides among women appear to be more complex, with many incidents stemming from domestic violence, forced marriages, and stifling restrictions imposed by the Taliban, such as the ban on education, according to the Afghan Witness project.
The Taliban has also banned women from speaking in public, traveling without a male guardian, and working in nongovernmental organizations, among many other constraints they face in their daily lives.
‘My Parents Sent Me Back To My Abusive Husband’
A 23-year-old resident of Kabul’s Dasht-e Barchi area attempted to end her own life in early July after suffering what she described as physical and verbal abuse at the hands of her husband and in-laws.
The woman, a mother of one who did not want to be named for privacy reasons, said her “life was saved by a neighbor.”
“I faced violence since the beginning of my marriage. I went back to my parents’ home, but they sent me back to my husband,” the woman said, explaining her despair.
Women in Afghanistan cannot simply leave their abusive husbands and try to rebuild their lives on their own. Divorce is frowned upon in such a conservative society and families try to avoid it at any cost.
Under the Taliban’s oppressive rules on women, it is virtually impossible for a divorced woman to live alone, find work, and become self-sufficient.
With no prospect of starting over, the woman from Dasht-e Barchi told RFE/RL she chose to attempt suicide because she felt it was her only way out of the unbearable abuse she was suffering at home.
In the southern city of Kandahar, local media reported four cases of suicide in the first week of July alone.
A fifth person, a 45-year-old man, who attempted to take his own life by hanging, was saved by neighbors.
RFE/RL contacted the man, who said on condition of anonymity that being unable to provide for his family due to unemployment and extreme poverty drove him to hopelessness and a suicide attempt.
The father of four said he asked government officials, various companies and agencies, private employers, and even neighbors to help him find “any job,” but none of them was able to help.
“I could not find work. I didn’t have any money to even buy just bread to feed my children,” the man said.
No Support Available
For those who have survived suicide attempts, help remains an issue.
Activists say better suicide surveillance programs are required, as are community-based mental health programs and online counseling to provide better access to those Afghans in need.
The three survivors who spoke to RFE/RL said they have not been able to receive professional support, as there are no known helplines for survivors or those struggling with suicidal thoughts.
The teenage girl in Kabul said her only therapy has been drawing pictures to distract her from negative thoughts, while her parents carefully watch her to prevent any repeated suicide attempts.
The mother in Dasht-e Barchi and her 4-year-old son are currently staying with the neighbor who saved her given the lack of any treatment facilities.
“My life has been saved, but my situation has not changed. I asked myself, ‘now what?’ and I don’t have the answer,” the woman said.
