Criminalisation of suicide and suicide rates: an ecological study of 171 countries in the world.

Laws penalising suicide were associated with higher national suicide rates and even more so in the female population in the low HDI, non-Muslim countries. The non-supportive patriarchal culture with laws penalising suicide may render women vulnerable to suicidality. Instead of criminalising suicide, alternative approaches such as providing good mental healthcare and adjusting the socioeconomic, legal and cultural factors that contribute to suicide should be considered.