Widows Rights International (WRI)
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Davina House
137-149 Goswell Rd
London EC1V 7ET
020 7253 5504

Case studies

WRI supports the work of grassroots organisations in Africa and South Asia. They have developed techniques to confront the harmful cultural practices which abrogate the human rights of widows. One of our partners in Africa is Woman of Purpose based in Eastern Uganda. They have developed and trained Community Resource Assistants who are allocated to be in charge of a specific area of operation where they use skills developed in the mechanisms of mediation and negotiation techniques otherwise known as Alternative Dispute Resolution. The following two case histories demonstrate how these techniques are put into practice.

Rosa's Story

Rosa, an illiterate housewife and mother of four with no independent source of livelihood was widowed when her husband was murdered during an uprising in Eastern Uganda. As is the custom, she was accused of conniving with the killers in order to take over her husband’s property. She was branded a ‘witch and a harlot’ and was told by her husband’s relatives that since she had killed their son, she would not inherit any property and must marry a relative.

She married her husband’s cousin whose wife threatened to kill her. The successor husband took over her husband’s property and she was allowed some land to cultivate. She had another child and lived in a state of fear and conflict in the home she shared with the first wife.

Three years later, her late husband’s brother returned to the village and ordered her to leave the house immediately as he had confirmed that she had killed his brother. If she did not leave, he would kill her.

She ran to the Clan head who was unable to help and the following morning her property was thrown out of the house and she was forced to return to the home of her parents. She was saved by her bedridden father- in- law who needed her to look after him. After a year, he died and she was immediately evicted after his funeral.

She then had to leave the home and live as a beggar for six years. Some women in the village told her about Woman of Purpose who organised a dialogue with her in-laws, helped her recover some of the land she had lost and enabled her to support her family.

WOP (Woman Of Purpose), an African Partner, Uganda

Malissa's story

When sixty year-old Malissa was widowed, custom demanded that she and her husband’s four other wives should be inherited by his brothers. However, Malissa refused to be inherited and for fifteen years she was persecuted. Forced to leave her village and being an older widow, she was unable to return to her parents' village and ended up homeless. Only young widows in her clan are allowed to go back to their parents because they can easily re-marry and obtain a dowry to refund the relatives of the deceased husband.

Malissa had only one son and he and his wife had died of AIDS. Malissa persuaded her eldest granddaughter to get married so that they could obtain a dowry but the dowry was appropriated by Malissa’s brothers- in- law.

In 1996, one of her elder stepsons took away the land she was cultivating. Whenever she tried to reclaim the land, she was told that when she got married, she did not bring any land from her father’s home, therefore she was not entitled to the land. She was even threatened that if she continued her efforts to regain her land, she would be evicted and sent back to her father’s home.

Malissa appealed to the clan leaders, who supported the step son on the grounds that a widow had no right to own land. For seven years, Malissa represented herself in the courts but was unsuccessful. With no land to cultivate, she was forced to work as a labourer in the fields.

In the past year, she attended a village meeting with representatives of Woman of Purpose who explained that widows now had rights. They agreed to help to resolve the dispute and organised a meeting with the clan members of her deceased husband. Five conciliation meetings were held where WOP representatives explained that Malissa had a right to own the land left by her husband. This mediation procedure was successful and Malissa was given back her land as well as the rice that was growing on it. Her life has changed for the better.

Further case studies

Quotes

....The plight of widows in many parts of the world needs to be widely known and encouragement given to make sure that not only are they helped and protected in the countries where there are the greatest abuses, but also we in more advanced countries do not sit complacently while our own laws and procedures may well
be inadequate to
meet the needs
of all widows.

Dame Elizabeth Butler-Sloss, President of the Family Division, Royal Courts of Justice