‘502 workers driven to suicide in Turkey in 8 years’

* Photo: Pexels

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The Health and Safety Labor Watch (İSİG) Assembly has released a report raising concerns about the suicides of workers in Turkey in the last 8 years. The İSİG Assembly report has shown that at least 502 workers committed workplace-related suicide in the country in 8 years.

The İSİG has noted that work-related suicides were first seen in Japan in late 1980s and called "karojisatsu", which is defined as "the attempted suicide that takes place after the worker loses his or her judgement as a result of over-extreme work and generally suffers from depression."

Data from around the world

Referring to the incidence of work-related suicides in other countries such as Japan, Australia, China and France, the Health and Safety Labor Watch has underlined that it is not something unique to Turkey.

According to the report, in Japan, the incidence of karojisatsu was 12 percent in 1999, which increased by 182 percent to 33.7 percent in 2001. While around 5,000 workers are estimated to take their lives as a result of over-extreme work in Japan every year, work was identified as an important factor leading to suicides in 109 cases in Australia between 1989 and 2000.

"Similarly, in France, 34 workers of France Telecom committed suicide successively between 2008 and 2010. Also, the suicides related to working at Foxconn factory, which is located in China and produces iPod, iPhone and iPad, have reached such an extent and reported in the world press that the Apple company has started having the workers sign a pledge that says 'I will not commit sucide, I will take good care of myself," the report has noted.

Data from Turkey

Sharing the data on Turkey within this context, the Health and Safety Labor Watch has announced that at least 15 workers in 2013, at least 25 workers in 2014, at least 59 workers in 2015, at least 89 workers in 2016, at least 86 workers in 2017, at least 73 workers in 2018, at least 80 workers in 2019 and at least 75 workers in 2020 lost their lives by committing suicide inside the workplace (or in relation to the workplace, if commited outside it).

The report has raised concerns that the number of work-related suicides has increased over the years, depending on the increase in the lack of job security. While 502 workers in total committed suicide in the last 8 years, 302 were wage earners (218 workers and 84 civil servants) and 132 were self-employed (111 shop owners and 132 farmers).

68 unemployed workers, such as the teachers who were not appointed by the state or had similar conditions, also committed sucidie.

When considered by provinces, the highest incidence of work-related suicides was seen in İstanbul, Kocaeli, İzmir and Antalya. While the incidence of suicides was more frequent in trade, office, defense, security and construction sectors, "127 workers committed suicide due to their debts, 68 workers due to unemployment and 53 workers due to mobbing."

The report has also indicated that "the reasons for 254 suicides are not known as there is no sufficient information."

Six of them are children

According to the data compiled by the Health and Safety Labor Watch, 30 female and 472 male workers committed suicide in 8 years.

Their distribution by age is as follows:

* Six workers in the 15-17 age group

*77 workers in the 18-27 age group

* 330 workers in the 28-50 age group

* 68 workers in the 51-64 age group

* Five workers at or over the age of 65

* 16 workers at an unknown age.

(EMK/SD)