Widowhood and Violence,

Wed, 05 Dec 2007 12:40:41 +0000

by Ancila Adrian Paul

Violence against women is pervasive around the world to such an extent that a 1994 study based on World Bank data of ten selected risk factors facing women between the ages of 15-44 years rated rape and domestic violence higher than cancer, motor vehicle accidents, war and malaria in causing death to such women. UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon puts it "Most societies prohibit such violence - yet the reality is that too often, it is covered up or tacitly condoned."

Ancil Adrian-Paul is a consultant for PhoenixConsultingUK. However, it is important that we recognise that there are many different categories of women that are affected by such violence. Single women, married women, divorced women, lesbian women - all have experienced violence. Similarly, girls, adult women, elderly women and widows of all ages also experience violence of different types. This blog entry is mainly concerned to highlight the experience of widows with violence.

The International Community has developed a raft of human rights legislation governing the rights of women including among others - the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women and the 2000 SC Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security. Additionally, many countries have domestic laws protecting the rights of women including girls. Yet, for varying reasons, widows are often unable to take advantage of the protection offered by the international statutes and their national laws.

As Margaret Owen puts it in the introduction to her Widows Charter - `In countries where parallel systems of law co-exist (religious, customary, modern), widows' lives are mainly determined by interpretations of the existing systems made by leaders of their local communities.`

For example, in the east of India, young married women who are unable to have a child but who then become widowed are shunned and vilified by everyone who knows their plight. These women are deemed to carry a contagious disease and those who associates with them will suffer from the same disease. Such women are thrown out of their family home, and many are coaxed into prostitution to survive. Some of them, having begged to remain within the family home, are subject to the humiliation of ongoing rape, beatings and mental torture - often meted out to them by the so-called `fertile` women of the same household.

In some parts of Africa (including Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya and Zimbabwe) widows are subject to the tradition of `wife inheritance` rationalized by some as being essential to keeping widows integrated in their communities. It has been argued that the custom benefits widows by offering them security, but because the practice is obligatory, it should be considered a form of gender-based discrimination that results in sexual abuse that can often result in HIV/AIDS.

Widow cleansing - an ancient practice common in parts of Africa (Zambia, Kenya (1), Malawi, Uganda, Tanzania, Ghana, Senegal, Angola, Ivory Coast, Congo and Nigeria, among other countries) - is another custom that denies women their basic rights and increases their risk of HIV infection. According to the practice, a woman is required to have sex with a village cleanser after her husband dies in order to be reaccepted into her community. For example, a widow cleanser in Malawi explained that the tradition dictates that he sleep with the widow, then with each of his own wives, and then again with the widow, all in one night. " He admitted that he never uses condoms and acknowledged that he may be infecting hundreds of women, or even himself. Additionally, A Kenyan widow cleanser expressed equal disregard for condom use. He said that the widows "wouldn't really be cleanses if the condom was there". [see Broken bodies, broken dreams]

This violent practice against women causes fear and submission which is detrimental to women. For example, one widow from Malawi described her feelings of resignation and shame: "I was hiding my private parts. ... You want to have a liking for a man to have sex, not to have someone force you. But I had no choice, knowing the whole village was against me." [see paragraph 2, NYT]
These are only some examples of violent acts committed against widows of all ages. In our call for action to eliminate all forms of violence against women, we should consider the plight of such women and seek to enact legislation that make specific reference to their rights and protection.

(1) Notably, in Western Kenya, the tradition of wife inheritance is practiced by a number of communities - which not coincidentally also have the highest rate of HIV infection in the country. In 2000, the HIV-prevalence rate in Nyanza province, for example, was 22 percent, compared to the national HIV-infection rate, which was 13 percent. Despite the risks, the tradition of wife inheritance continues because most widows have no alternative. If they refuse, they risk rejection by their communities.

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Widowhood and Violence,