BMC Women's Health is calling for submissions to our Collection on Social perspectives on girls’ and women’s suicidality in low- and middle-income countries.
Most suicides occur in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC). In a number of LMIC women have similar (e.g., in India, Pakistan) or higher suicide mortality rates than men (e.g., in Bangladesh, Lesotho, Morocco). Nearly everywhere in the world women have higher rates of nonfatal suicidal behavior than men. Yet most suicidality research has focused on high-income countries (HIC), and on men. Dominant suicide research has privileged an individual focus, and specifically psychological perspectives. Limited attention has been given to the social context of suicidality, including the scripts of gender and suicidal behaviors that underlie the cultural variability in women’s suicidality.
This BMC Women’s Health Collection aims at addressing these gaps in the literature. Specifically, this Collection is seeking submissions on content such as:
- LMIC scripts (e.g., context, precipitants, meanings, attitudes, beliefs, methods, attributed motives, consequences, social responses) of girls’ and women’s suicidality
- LMIC girls’ and women’s suicidality (including meanings and consequences) in relation to their social status in their community
- LMIC girls’ and women's suicidality as acts of despair and of protest against oppression in patriarchal systems
- LMIC girls’ and women’s suicidality in relation to inequalities/discrimination against women (e.g., as measured by gender-inequality indices such as the social institution and gender index).
- LMIC girls’ and women’s suicidality in the context of men's violence against girls and women
The term gender has different meanings, in different languages, and over time. In this Collection we are interested in papers that focus on gender as a dimension of social classification; and as a cultural construct in response to the physical and biological differences between females and males. We seek papers that examine how gender as a cultural construct encodes and naturalizes differential power and status for women and men in society. Specifically, for this Collection we seek papers that examine how ideologies and systems of gender enforce and normalize the oppression of women, and also influence women’s suicidality, within and across cultures.
Submissions spanning different research methods are welcome. Ethnographic and narrative perspectives are especially encouraged. Purely descriptive, epidemiological or psychiatric studies are outside the scope of this Collection. An intersectional, human rights, context-based analysis of LMIC girls’ and women’s suicidality is preferred. Submissions by LMIC-based authors are encouraged.
Authors may submit complete manuscripts directly through the journal collection page.
Authors are welcome to address pre-submission enquires to Professor Canetto, email: [email protected]
Submission Deadline for Papers: January 31, 2025
For information on country-based waivers and discount opportunities, please see our Country-tiered APC pricing pilot page. Authors are encouraged to see if they are eligible for institution-based discounts and waivers through BMC Membership and Open Access Agreements.
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