As national and state discussions around women’s pain advance, it is essential to recognise that mental health issues can be the cause and/or a contributing factor to women’s experiences of pain.
More specifically, women in Australia are reporting increased levels of distress, resulting in a widening of the gender gap across suicide risk factors. According to Suicide Prevention Australia, this is primarily linked to rising living costs, relationship breakdowns and housing insecurity. Amid these developments, the suicide prevention sector have made urgent calls for the Federal Government to release the National Suicide Prevention Strategy, which is crucial for providing essential guidance and funding to effectively support Australians.
For decades now, migrant and refugee advocates have drawn attention to the various factors that impact on the mental health and wellbeing of migrant and refugee communities. And while ‘Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD)’ communities are often listed as a “priority population” across most key issues and policy documents, there is a long way to go to in meaningfully prioritising our needs and rights. For instance, whilst research identifies migrant and refugee communities as a priority population when it comes to elevated risk of suicide, we are yet to see this reflected in suicide prevention research, policies and initiatives.
While there is limited available research on the issue of suicide as it concerns migrant and refugee women, research suggests that some female migrant groups in Australia may experience elevated risk of suicide. For a long time, MCWH has called for mental health system reform, and affordable, tailored and culturally appropriate prevention and early intervention strategies to address the needs of migrant and refugee women and communities. We note that it has been four years since the coroner called for more culturally appropriate support services for South Asian women, following the tragic deaths by suicide of four women in the City of Whittlesea. Sadly, the same risk factors that were identified back then persist today, such as social isolation, family violence, insecure employment, financial dependence, and lack of geographical barriers to mental health and family violence services.
There remains a critical lack of targeted and sustained funding to address the mental health disparities among various population groups in Australia. More specifically, in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, suicide is one of the leading causes of death, in contrast with non-Aboriginal peoples, however there is still limited support and funding for community-led initiatives and solutions. For trans and gender diverse people in Australia, high suicidality rates have also been identified. Moreover, mainstream mental health services have reported low levels of engagement with trans and gender diverse migrant groups which is likely due to inaccessibility of high quality, culturally responsive and safe support.
Now more than ever, we need the release of the National Suicide Prevention Strategy, and clear focus on those who are made most marginal by our systems and structures. This includes sustained investment to further understand the socio-cultural factors and systemic inequalities impacting migrant and refugee women and gender diverse people’s experiences of suicidal behaviour. This research must be community-led, collaborative, and intersectional to effectively translate the evidence base into policies and initiatives that are responsive to migrant and refugee communities. Additionally, there is an urgent need for improved data collection and reporting that captures the diversity of the Australian population, beyond single measures of diversity. This can enable a deeper understanding on how suicide affects different groups and how we can design and implement effective prevention strategies.
Australia is long overdue to address the gendered and racial evidence gap in health and research, especially when it comes to suicide prevention and mental wellbeing. From understanding how mental health impacts women’s experiences of pain, to developing prevention policies and programs that are accessible and meaningful, it is time we prioritise migrant and refugee women and gender diverse peoples’ needs, beyond just listing them as a “priority population” across policy documents.
This article was first published in edition #135 of The WRAP on June 2024.