Japan and South Korea see surge of suicides among young women
&gt; “Many of those who reach us say they have no place to go when they’re told to stay home,” said Jun Tachibana of the Bond Project. “Many are having problems with their family, friends or boyfriends. I worry they may be feeling more lonely.”<p>Unfortunately, this article&#x27;s diagnosing of the problem as <i>loneliness</i> misses the mark entirely. I don&#x27;t think loneliness alone should account for this 80% increase in female suicides – there is an insidious assumption here, that women are somehow less able to &quot;deal&quot; with being alone, to such a severe extent that they are driven to suicide. Additionally, in the same sentence, Jun Tachibana mentioned that the women are &quot;having problems with their family, friends, or boyfriends&quot; – not that they don&#x27;t have these interactions, but that these interactions are <i>the source</i> of problems.<p>What the article was woefully remiss in addressing at all is the increased rates of domestic abuse and child abuse that has happened in Japan in the last few years [1]. Domestic abuse in Japan has increased year to year for <i>16 consecutive years.</i> (I am not sure why, but I do know it&#x27;s a taboo topic in Japan. See Kore-ada&#x27;s film <i>Shoplifters</i> about the government response to this situation, and its myopic insistence that the nuclear family solves all). Additionally (in the US, for instance), we have seen domestic abuse rates soar during the pandemic [2]. As per the source: &quot;Disturbingly, the data suggested that the pandemic has produced many new offenders: reports coming from city blocks with no previous record of domestic violence were the main drivers of the increase.&quot;<p>These two factors together with Japan&#x27;s complicated history with suicide and shame actually provide a much clearer (and sad) picture of the possible cause of an increase in suicide for women.<p>[1] – <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;english.kyodonews.net&#x2F;news&#x2F;2020&#x2F;03&#x2F;e788d95b8fc7-domestic-violence-cases-in-japan-reach-new-all-time-high-in-2019.html" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;english.kyodonews.net&#x2F;news&#x2F;2020&#x2F;03&#x2F;e788d95b8fc7-dome...</a>
[2] – <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;phys.org&#x2F;news&#x2F;2020-08-domestic-violence-pandemic.html" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;phys.org&#x2F;news&#x2F;2020-08-domestic-violence-pandemic.htm...</a>