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THE HAGUE, NETHERLANDS, November 21, 2003: The Hindu Council of the Netherlands (Hindoe Raad Nederland) organized a conference on suicide attempts among Hindu youth at The Hague on November 20. This is the first time that the Hindu community has gathered to discuss a long taboo subject. Three years ago, it was established by the GGD (Local Institutes of Public Health) that the number of suicide attempts among the mostly Hindu young daughters of the Surinam immigrant community is far above the national average. An earlier study by Professor Schudel, professor of clinical and social psychiatry, indicated that girls between fifteen- and nineteen-year-old from Surinamese, Turkish and Moroccan immigrant communities were three to four times more likely to attempt suicide than their native Dutch peers. He concluded that despite the facts which show that their suicide attempts rarely succeed, the numbers give clear evidence of extreme social stress and depression. The Dutch response to the study from the GGD was to initiate a program of weekly discussion groups for foreign girls at several different Hague schools. This six-month program consists of group discussions covering subjects such as infatuation, boyfriends, sexuality, relations with their Dutch peers, older people, and with their family. The municipal service of Public Health, which is coordinating these initiatives, plans to create a central spot in the city where immigrant young people can seek confidential help. Two social workers who have been working with the Hindu community for many years say that the problems caused within families whose children are caught in the clash between two cultures is enormous and far under-reported. Though the conference is a hopeful sign, they feel that the Surinam Dutch (hindoestaanse) community must do more and immediately commence to deal with this problem itself through organized programs within its innumerable foundations, associations, mandirs and mosques.

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