Suicide and Gender in the People's Republic of China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Chinese in the US

Abstract

In this paper we conduct a comparison of the rates of suicide for men and women across four settings: the People's Republic of China (PRC), Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Asian groups in the US. The rates for rural PRC women are the highest, followed by urban PRC, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and at the lowest rate, US Asians. The highest rates for men were found in the rural PRC setting, followed by Hong Kong, Taiwan, Asians in the US, and the lowest rate was found in the urban PRC. The high rate among women in rural PRC settings fits with observations on their stressful life circumstances. For these women, local belief systems, life conditions, and lack of social and economic opportunities increase the risk of suicide in the face of intolerable shame and pain.