Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/30874
Title: Prevalence of Suicide Thoughts and Behaviours among Female Garment Workers Who Survived the Rana Plaza Collapse: An In-Depth Inquiry
Contributor(s): Kabir, Humayun  (author); Maple, Myfanwy  (author)orcid ; Islam, Md Shahidul  (author)orcid ; Usher, Kim  (author)orcid 
Publication Date: 2021-06-11
Open Access: Yes
DOI: 10.3390/ijerph18126326
Handle Link: https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/30874
Abstract: The Rana Plaza building collapse occurred on 24 April 2013 in Savar, near the capital city of Bangladesh, killing more than 1130 garment workers and injured about 2500, mostly females. Those who survived face ongoing challenges, including socio-cultural constraints, economic hardship, post-traumatic stress disorders (PTSD), depression, and critical health issues, which may lead to suicidal ideation and death. The aim of this article is to explore why and how female garment workers who survived the Rana Plaza collapse are now at risk of suicide thoughts and behaviours, and suicide death. Unstructured face-to-face interviews were held from April to July 2018 with 11 female garment workers who survived the Rana Plaza building collapse. Interviews continued until data saturation was reached. The interviews were tape-recorded and transcribed verbatim while simultaneously being translated into English from Bengali/Bangla. Transcripts were coded and thematically analysed. The study found that all participants were living with multiple risk factors of suicidal ideation (including low socio-economic status, poverty, social stigma, psychological distress, and trauma) which the participants directly linked to the collapse of the Rana Plaza building. Our analysis uses the three-step theory of suicide (3ST, Klonsky & May, 2015) to understand female Rana Plaza survivors’ suicide risk. Female survivors’ overall vulnerability requires urgent attention while taking the socio-cultural setting of Bangladesh into account. In addition, a lifelong caring system (combining financial security and free healthcare) needs to be initiated to accommodate the female survivors with mainstream society to avoid possible future suicides. They require long-term social and economic security and psychological support.
Publication Type: Journal Article
Source of Publication: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(12), p. 1-15
Publisher: MDPI AG
Place of Publication: Switzerland
ISSN: 1660-4601
1661-7827
Fields of Research (FoR) 2020: 441011 Sociology of health
420606 Social determinants of health
420604 Injury prevention
Socio-Economic Objective (SEO) 2020: 200201 Determinants of health
200408 Injury prevention and control
200409 Mental health
Peer Reviewed: Yes
HERDC Category Description: C1 Refereed Article in a Scholarly Journal
Appears in Collections:Journal Article
School of Health

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