EWD Workshop reports

Widows without Rights Conference

London - 6-7 February, 2001
Tuesday 6th February 2001
morning session

Introductory presentations

Kate Young
Baroness Sally Greengross
Margaret Owen
Dr Eleanor Nwadinobi
Dr Mohini Giri
Lesley Abdela

Margaret Owen, the founder of EWD and author of The World of Widows then welcomed the participants. She spoke of her personal experience of widowhood, and how she had first been made aware of the plight of African widows when a visiting widow from Malawi had expressed surprise that her late husband's brothers had allowed her to remain in the marital home.

As she discovered while researching her book, widows are expected to become invisible, while at the same time terrible wrongs and abuse - physical, mental and sexual - are inflicted on them by family members in the privacy of the home. When they lose their husbands, they lose the respect of others. Sometimes they are still children, married off to older men, whose whole adult lives are blighted by widowhood.

Margaret was delighted to welcome the participants, especially those from overseas. For her, the conference was a dream come true, and a tremendous opportunity to raise the issue of widows' rights internationally.