By Agatha Kadzinje
Blantyre, September 12, Mana: Men for Gender Equality Now (MEGEN) has stated that the alarming suicide cases among men in Malawi are due to the stereotypes that the society holds towards men’s mental health.
Gender Rights Activist at MEGEN, Marcel Chisi said in an interview with Malawi News Agency (MANA) on Wednesday, that women have more suicidal thoughts. Still, the actual people who commit suicide are men simply because there are no spaces and avenues to express themselves in society.
“Women have more forums or platforms where they can communicate their problems. As a result, they seek honest opinions from others. On the other hand, men's forums are not useful as they do not offer meaningful alternatives. Additionally, men are not supportive to each other, which leads to more suicidal thoughts among men as many of them opt to suffer in silence rather than sharing their problems with others,” he disclosed.
Chisi added that MEGEN together with Malawi Human Rights Commission is taking various initiatives to ensure men feel heard to improve their mental health.
He further explained that MEGEN has sections in different communities that provide psychosocial support and mental health therapy to assist people struggling with mental health issues, through teaching young men and grown men to cope with various shocks that they are facing in life.
Bamusi Matiki from Mpemba in Traditional Authority Nsomba in Blantyre also pointed out that it is only women who are heard when they report any case of abuse and not men.
“We do not disclose our problems to our mates or report anything to the police because we see that we will not be helped in any form. We would rather go to bawo places or a bar to forget everything,” he said.
According to a report released by the Malawi Police Service recently, 246 men and 35 women have taken their own lives from January to June this year, marking male domestic abuse, financial hardships, broken relationships, and drug abuse as contributing factors to rising cases of suicide in the country.
