Widows
without Rights Conference
London - 6-7 February,
2001
WIDOWS
and AIDS:
redefinitions and challenges
A presentation by
Bridget Sleap
Panos AIDS
Programme
It
may seem odd that I am standing before you to present a paper
on widows and AIDS in the developing world. I am neither a
widow, nor from a developing country. My husband has not recently
died from AIDS, nor do I face the prospect of being inherited
by one of my husband's relatives, typically a brother. What
property I do own will not be grabbed or seized by my husband's
family after his death, leaving me and my children, if they
are not taken away from me, destitute. I will not be forced
to have sex with one of my husband's relatives to cleanse
me. I will not be blamed for my husband's death, accused of
witchcraft or ostracised from my family or community as a
result of the stigma attached to AIDS. With no male to depend
on, it won't be necessary for me to resort to activities that
are considered immoral by the society in which I live, such
as commercial sex work or beer brewing and selling, and which
could place me and others at risk of further infection.
These
are some of the obstacles facing the increasing number of
women who are widowed as a result of AIDS. Discrimination
against widows and HIV/AIDS are interrelated in two ways:
HIV/AIDS significantly adds to the burden of the already inferior
status of widows. At the same time, this economic, social
and political inferiority makes widows (and women in general)
more vulnerable to HIV infection. It is a vicious circle of
discrimination and poverty. Information
addressing the situation of widows in general often focuses
on the older woman, whilst in fact AIDS has created a generation
of young widows. These young widows, frequently with young
children, face the burden of discrimination on two counts
- the loss of their husband and the disease. The
purpose of this presentation is to provide an overview of
the issues facing these widows. Throughout I shall use the
term husband for convenience but it is meant to cover the
wide range of relationships that can result in widowhood,
other than marriage. The AIDS epidemic is forcing a closer
scrutiny of gender issues, in particular the different sexual
relationships that men and women enter into. Few women are
commercial sex workers as such, but often sex is seen as a
commodity to be exchanged for some form of support, financial
or other. Teenage girls may have sugar daddies; single women
may have a number of regular partners who may help meet their
bills; women of any age may use sex as a way of gaining support
for their children once the father has lost interest. An AIDS
related death of one of these partners can have some consequences
similar to those of more traditionally defined widowhood.
There
are a number of issues that put widows at risk of HIV infection,
such as sexual violence in conflict or increased vulnerability
due to violation of property rights. Widowed grandmothers
face both the trauma of outliving their own children as well
as the burden of bringing up their orphaned grandchildren
when they themselves would normally be cared for by the younger
generation. However, due to time restrictions and not wishing
to overlap with other presentations, I have limited myself
to looking at epidemiology, the psychological and socio-economic
impact of this type of widowhood, widow inheritance and human
rights issues.
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