Widows are historically the poorest and most vulnerable individuals in Africa. This is as a result of the loss of a partner that is very devastating and yet capitalised by relatives to oppress.
For many women, the loss of their husbands marks the beginning of new struggles and frustrations from family members and even the community in some cases.
It’s estimated that two out of 10 widows live in extreme poverty.
In Africa, according to the World Bank’s report of 2018, one in 10 women aged above 14 is widowed and face adverse economic hardships. In addition, across the region, three per cent of all women aged 15-49 are widows at any point in time. Including the many young widows who remarry, more than five per cent of ever-widowed women are under the age of 49.
In a society where a woman’s success is measured in her getting married, many widows are forced to silently endure denied access to social and economic rights, which are completely lost upon widowhood. The impact of marital death hugely falls on women as they will be excluded socially and lose their home, property, and even children, to the husbands’ families.
Shockingly, widowhood entails a loss of economic means that are conditional on marriage, including access to land, as well as the loss of protection and status previously derived from the husband. These vices also include common practices such as exclusion, degrading rituals and accusations of causing the death of their husbands
These are huge violations of a widow’s human rights that are culturally accelerated. A widow is oppressed and suppressed regardless of existing legal policy frameworks. In some cultures, the husband’s family forces the widow and her children out upon the burial of the husband.
These oppressive structural norms are patterns of gender inequality adding a heavy burden on women’s shoulders. Widows are often shut out of labour markets and labelled taboo as in-laws will warn their daughters-in-law against associating with a widow.
Due to financial loss, widows will have fewer assets and bear a great responsibility to care for their children and elderly with minimal support from the late husband’s family.
The prevalence of property loss and grabbing is largely attributed to a number of factors that include: lack of wills, customary practices pertained to property, and widow inheritance, which is not properly documented.
In many instances for a widow to inherit land and property, she has to remarry a family member of the late (wife inheritance). The inconsistent and contradicting cultural and legal laws are another cause of widows’ disinheritance.
In Kenya there is lack of effective implementation of legal laws such as succession law that states that forced eviction of a widow from her matrimonial home and land is illegal.
To change the vices, the government needs to be intentional in rolling out property and land inheritance rights conversations with community leaders at the county level to ensure the protection of widows.
“Development of policies such as property ownership and inheritance rights reform, registration of customary marriages, and widow’s pensions can help address the disadvantages faced by widows in our communities.”—UN.
Communications associate at Nyanam International
