Tunisia-FTDES: 11 suicides and suicide attempts in July

798 collective protests and 11 suicides and suicide attempts were recorded in July 2020, said the July report on social movements of the Tunisian Social Observatory of the Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights

According to the report, more than half of the social movements took place in the western regions of the country. The governorate of Gafsa alone saw 319 protests, or 39.9% of the total. Most of the movement was concentrated in the mining area and took the form of a sit-in, causing the phosphate production sites to be completely paralyzed for more than a month and a complete halt to the transfer to the chemical group’s factories. This led the latter to announce a case of force majeure at the global level and to brandish the threat of dismissing its workers on technical unemployment, if the situation does not change.

The governorate of Kairouan comes in second place with 103 protest movements, followed by Tunis (79), Kasserine (66) the governorate, Sidi Bouzid (51) and Tozeur (50).

The governorate of Tataouine ranked seventh with 48 protest movements linked in their entirety to the movement concerning the Kamour accords dating back to 2017, without any evolution through successive governments. This led the youth of the Coordination du Kamour to resume the movement amidst significant regional support.

According to the report, the month of July saw more than 530 sit-in days, representing 67.3% of the total volume of protest movements recorded during the month. The unemployed represented the most present actors in these protest movements, they were the authors of about half of the movements that the country experienced during this month of July: 40% were unemployed and 7% of holders of diplomas superiors.

On the other hand, the citizen in general was the author of about 20% of protest movements while the rest was part of the context of the demand which concerns those who protest against precarious social and economic situations such as workers. urban, teachers and contract teachers.

In addition, the month of July 2020 recorded 11 suicides and suicide attempts (6 male and 5 female) spread over the governorates of Gafsa, Kairouan, Sousse and Tunis.
Among the victims, children under the age of 15 and people over the age of 60. The 25 to 45 age group was the most affected.

The forms of suicide and attempted suicide have ranged from hanging, immolation, ingestion of drugs and toxic substances, and precipitation in a vacuum.

TAP