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Traditional wedding rituals in the Wichla Zulu district of Malawi have been blamed for the high rate of male suicide.
The Chikamwini ritual, which requires a man to move to his wife’s village, has been blamed for about 300 suicide attempts and 99 successful suicides in the past year, according to Chirazulu District Hospital records.
This was disclosed during a meeting between APPCAN Lifeline Malawi and Chiradzuru community leaders on suicide prevention.
The meeting, held on Friday, brought together local traditional leaders, church leaders, Village Development Committee (VDC) and mental health advocates to discuss pressing mental health and suicide prevention issues in Wirazulu, Malawi.
“For example, a man moves in with his wife and after acquiring wealth, the woman kicks the man out, leaving him homeless, which eventually leads to his suicide,” APPCAN Malawi Lifeline deputy director Henderson Mhango told Voice of Malawi during the conference.
Innocent Nyangulu, mental health coordinator at Chiradzulu Hospital, added: “Our culture believes that men cannot cry. This is another reason for the high suicide rate among men. It is time for men to abandon the culture of silence.”
Magret Samali, the region’s gender coordinator, urged people to seek help if they are traumatized.
“People should seek guidance and counselling when they are traumatised. We need to work together to prevent suicides in our region.”
APPCAN Lifeline Malawi is working with community leaders to address mental health and suicide prevention issues and advocating for changes to laws that criminalize suicide attempts.
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