New York elected officials held a roundtable panel discussion on Monday to combat the worrying increase in Latina teenage suicide and to consider preventive solutions.

The group's purpose specifically was to raise awareness about teen suicide, explore early intervention measures, assess the federal response, and support community based solutions.

Nationally, 26 percent of Latina teens contemplated suicide in 2013, up from 5 percent in 2011, according the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. One out six teens attempt suicide.

"Too many of our young Latinas across the country are contemplating and attempting suicide," Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y. said. "Alarmingly, this number has nearly doubled in the last two years in some communities -- with attempts increasing in Brooklyn and Queens. All of us must work together to end this silent health epidemic affecting Latina girls."

The CDC reports for youth between the ages of 10 and 24, suicide is the third leading cause of death, which results in approximately 4,600 lives lost each year. The top three methods used are firearm (45 percent), suffocation (40 percent) and poisoning (8 percent).

Joining Gillibrand was Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez, Yolanda Alicea-Winn from the Puerto Rican Family Institute, parents, teachers, counselors, community leaders and Dr. Rosa Gil, president and CEO of Comunilife. Gil says many of the girls are from migrant families.

"The girls get acculturated much faster than their mothers," Gil told Al-Jazeera. "Because of machismo and marianismo -- the veneration of feminine virtues -- young women are raised to be docile and dependent. This creates conflict for girls who are more acculturated."

Comunilife, a nonprofit organization in Brooklyn, runs a program called Life is Precious for suicidal teens.

According to experts and organizations like the CDC and Comunlife, there are several additional reasons Latinas attempt and commit suicide. There is sometimes evidence of bullying at schools. There is the stigma and shame about mental illness, which will often prevent girls from seeking professional help because families believe it should be dealt with by the family or faith community. There is a lack of Latino health professionals who are conversant in Latino cultural conditions that might lead someone to contemplation of suicide, as well as language barriers generally in the health care system.