Suicides in Whittlesea: Calls for more cultural support for women
After four young women took their own lives within months of each other while living in the City of Whittlesea, the community expressed grave concerns. Now the Victorian Coroner has released her findings into the tragic deaths.
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The Victorian Coroner has called for more accessible, culturally appropriate support services for South Asian women in the City of Whittlesea, after an investigation into the suicides of four women in the community.
Coroner Audrey Jamieson started the investigation after community concerns about elevated
suicide rates among the demographic of women.
The elevated frequency of suspected suicides was first noticed by Sergeant Damian Lehmann of Mill Park police.
A review of suicides in the area revealed a number of relevant deaths including four women between the ages of 29-40 between 2018 and 2019.
The deaths included a 40-year-old mum of one who Ms Jamieson found was in a state of distress due to her financial circumstances when she took her own life.
The woman moved to Australia from India in 2010 and lived with her husband, adult son and niece in Epping, and worked full time.
Construction delays on a planned new house caused her stress; she was working a lot of overtime and not sleeping well.
Another woman, 37, had been living in South Morang with her husband and young son, after emigrating from India in 2013.
The woman, who had a masters degree and was employed in IT, had a history of depression and had previous thoughts about taking her own life.
Ms Jamieson was unable to find the precise precipitating factors that led to the woman taking her own life.
Ms Jamieson also investigated the death of a Thomastown woman who had emigrated from Sri Lanka to Australia with her husband in 2016.
She was studying at university before she took her own life at the age of 33.
The woman did not have a history of mental health problems but Ms Jamieson found she was extremely distressed by a personal issue when she took her own life.
And a woman who emigrated from India to Australia in 2018 was just 29 when she took her own life the following year.
She had a young daughter who lived in India with her ex-husband and the woman had previously had thoughts about taking her own life, but had not been treated for mental health issues in Australia or India.
Ms Jamieson found although the precise factors leading her to take her life may never be known, the woman suffered stress before her death, including lack of financial independence and an impending divorce.
In her investigation, Ms Jamieson consulted community leaders and relevant agencies.
Submissions from community groups said that South Asian women in Australia may experience social isolation, family violence and financial dependence.
These were not all present in each case investigated, though they were seen across the group collectively.
Ms Jamieson recommended the Department of Health and Human Services review current services that support the health and wellbeing of South Asian women, and consult with relevant service providers and other stakeholders, to identify opportunities to improve South Asian women’s access to and engagement with such services.
A DHHS spokesperson said any death from suicide was a tragedy and it acknowledged the recommendation made by the Coroner.
“We’ve already begun working on a co-ordinated response across the local area health network, Whittlesea Council and local service providers to ensure the community can access the help they need,” the spokesperson said.
Ms Jamieson also recommended Victoria Police allocate family violence investigation units to investigations into suspected intentional deaths of women in the City of Whittlesea who were from culturally and linguistically diverse communities, in circumstances where there was any indication that previous family violence incidents or social isolation may have contributed to the death.
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