02/01/2024 | Writer: Selma Koçak
The report on suicides among young people in Turkey was published by the İstanbul Youth Research Center. Data on young LGBTI+ suicides were also included in the report.
As part of the research carried out by the Istanbul Youth Research Center with the support of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, there was a search for news of LGBTI+ young people who have recently committed suicide. According to findings of the report, a total of 10 suicide cases were detected, including 1 suicide in 2012, 1 in 2014, 4 in 2015, 1 in 2016, 1 in 2017, 1 in 2019 and 1 in 2020.
The report found that LGBTI+ young people who committed suicide were aged between 17 and 20. Between 2012 and 2020, suicides were distributed according to the following cities: Adana (1), Balıkesir (1), İstanbul (3), İzmir (2), Kahramanmaraş (1), Konya (1), Van (1).
The most common expression in suicide notes was “family pressure”
The report found that transgender suicides are relatively high among suicides of LGBTI+ youth. It found that the most common expression in suicide notes of LGBTI+ youth, in narratives of their close friends and loved ones, and in news texts about these suicides was “family pressure”.
A note from close friends of Burcu, a 22-year-old trans woman who committed suicide on June 19, in Konya, was also included in the report:
“She had a very conservative family and with the COVID-19 pandemic she had to return to Konya and started to live with her family. We know from previous conversations with her friends that she did not like living in Konya and that she had problems with her family because of her sexual identity. Burcu did not have the support of her family and was the victim of transphobic violence at the hands of her family.”
Leading role of systemic homophobia and transphobia
The report found that systemic homophobia, transphobia and patriarchy were at the forefront of most LGBTI+ suicides reported in the media.
According to the report, social problems that lead to suicide among young LGBTI+ people include:
Exclusion from family, relatives and society,
Social inequalities leading to economic dependence on family and other adults in the neighbourhood,
Social stigma and marginalization,
Lack of communities in small towns where young LGBTI+ people can engage socially and politically,
Strengthening of authoritarian practices restricting the right of LGBTI+ people to assemble, demonstrate and march, increase in police violence and deepening of the sense of isolation,
The gradual weakening of LGBTI+ solidarity networks in recent years,
The absence of suicide prevention policies and mechanisms, preventive counselling and advice services, which should be established under the responsibility of local and central governments.
Tags: human rights, media, education, family
