Women’s protest suicide by self-burning in Southern and Central Asia: a political act to decry systemic discrimination, abuse and violence

In Southeastern and Central Asia protest suicide by self-burning is most common among women. What women in this region protest via suicidal self-burning are violations of their human rights, including their right to education, paid work, self-determination in marriage and divorce, and their right to be safe from violence. These violations are often perpetrated within the family with informal and formal enabling by the community and the state. Because the family is a primary context of women’s human rights violations, women’s protest suicide by self-burning is frequently dismissed as a private problem to be addressed via psychocentric solutions. This systematic review provides evidence that in Southeastern and Central Asia women’s suicide by self-burning is a political act; a culturally scripted way for women to protest systemic discrimination, abuse and violence. Southeastern and Central Asian women’s protest suicide by self-burning challenges the psychocentric focus of theory, research, and the prevention of women’s suicide. As a political act in response to public problems, women’s protest suicide by self-burning requires systemic analysis and solutions.