The intersectionality of gender, race and social class in the life trajectories of women who attempted suicide

Abstract The aim is to analyze the suicide attempts of women under the intersectionality of gender, race and social class. This is a qualitative study along the lines of a topical life story, carried out with seven women who reported experiences of suicide during their lives. Data collection occurred through individual interviews, supported by a questionnaire for sociodemographic characterization and a semi-structured script. The full analysis of the interviews revealed four categories of thematic analysis: 1) subsistence trajectories and development of the expression of social inequality; 2) childhood and adolescence marked by violence in the family context; 3) the sexual division of labor and gender inequality as fruits of patriarchy; 4) the difficulty in ethnic-racial self-affirmation as an outcome of racism and a mechanism of social invisibility. The interdependence of the axes of oppression was verified: gender, race and social class in the life trajectory of women who saw suicide as a feasible strategy to end the suffering caused by the social structure. This study revealed that suicide attempts in women must be approached from the perspective of macrosocial intersectionality, breaking with individualistic and biologizing perspectives.