|
|
||
 |
||
 |
 Conference 6th February 2001 Monica Mhoja Land
& Property Rights of Widows: Case Study of Inheritance Customary
Laws in Tanzania
İEmpowering
Widows |
|
Widows without Rights Conference
Betty
Ayagiba, The Widows' Ministry, Ghana
Betty is a nurse who helped set up this self-help organisation for widows after an ill-treated widow had died in hospital on hunger strike. This event spurred widows to come together and the association now helps over 800 widows in three main ways. First it supplies spiritual support through the word of God - it is Christian in inspiration, but membership is open to all faiths. Second, it promotes economic independence through income-generating activities and loans. Third, it helps the widows care for their children and aims to provide for their special needs - the young, the blind, the handicapped - and supplies training in carpentry and other skills for orphaned children. The association has a library and a lawyer who organises legal sessions for widows who have been evicted from their homes. The Ministry also works through the radio, and members offer each other mutual support by selling weavings and livestock to other members. Manjula Joshi, Organisation of Strong Women who Live Alone, Rajasthan, India Manjula described the work of this small organisation founded for widows and other female heads of household. They started by creating small groups which gradually grew. Widows are often confused by the complexities of the caste system. The organisation helps them to deal with this, and to assert their property rights, and improve their economic situation through income generation. They teach the women that women alone can not only survive, they can be stronger. Now the organisation has expanded throughout Rajasthan. Lalita Krishnaswamy, SEWA SEWA is a nationwide organisation with a membership of 318,000, 26 per cent of whom are widows. In one village, 90 per cent of the adult women are widows. Alcoholism is a major problem among men, leading to debt and early death. The organisation helps through employment creation, social security, the marketing of products, and the development of overseas markets. In particular, SEWA offers training and child care to empower women, insurance for loss of income during mourning, a pension scheme and help with housing, with now over 100 houses built by the association for sale or rent. It concentrates on helping the poorest, who are often widows. What the organisation is fighting for is women's right to food, shelter, livelihood and security. Seodhi White, Malawi, Women & Law in Southern Africa (WLSA) Seodhi described the work of WLSA, which she described as a feminist organisation involved in research, lobbying and action. Advocacy was important to change the law and attitudes. Research on widows in 1998 led to "Justice for Women". Property grabbing from widows was common and institutionalised in Malawi, with even ministers involved in land grabbing; under customary law, only 10 per cent goes to the widow. The poor often lose the roof over their heads. Often it is not aggressive, but is "sorted out" by the clan. WLSA encourages families to make wills, which can reduce many problems, and provides legal advice on the subject. The association had been involved in a television programme on the subject and was using all forms of advocacy to make it embarrassing and unacceptable. Women are encouraged to guard a widow's house during the funeral, which might otherwise provide an opportunity for property grabbing. Anuradhe Wickramsinghe, Sri Lanka, Small Fishers Federation Anuradhe spoke about the plight of widows from his own experience as a widow's son. In the fishing community, one-sixth of members are widows and one in eight children do not go to school. Although a widow is Head of the Sri Lanka Government, little is done to alleviate the plight of rural widows, and there is no government programme for orphans. Luisa Chadraca, Foro Mulher, Mozambique Foro Mulher is an umbrella organisation of women's groups in Mozambique, working particularly against all forms of violence. Luisa is a lawyer, and also a member of MULEIDE (Women, Law and Development) and the Mozambican Association of Women Lawyers (AMMCJ), both organisations part of the struggle to ensure that women's rights are recognised and respected. Widowhood is a terrible problem for women in Mozambique, partly because there is no law of the family. Even women who have a difficult life with their husbands dread becoming widows, as they are aware of the problems they will encounter. Often the husbands' relatives deprive her of everything, in some cases including her own children. Luisa recounted two stories of two young widows she had helped protect from property grabbing. She always tries to explain that, under the law, a man's next of kin is his wife, not his brother, but custom disregards this. There is a need for a widows' association in Mozambique to provide support to widows, and encourage husbands to write wills, which can avoid many problems. A Law of the Family is now under public discussion and will be sent to Parliament in October. This should pave the way overcoming some of the problems and humiliations women face in Mozambique. Hamide Latifi, Women for Women, Kosovo A lawyer and journalist, Hamide described the present situation in Kosovo, where there is tension, no constitution and no established law. Many women (about 3,600) do not know if they are widows or not, because of people disappearing, being taken to jail and the difficulty of identifying bodies. In Bihac, out of 20,000 inhabitants, 3,500 are widows. Yet widows are not on the agenda of the new government. There is often no water, electricity or communications. Some 120,000 houses were destroyed, there is high unemployment and no pensions. In one village where she had worked, almost all women were widows, and most had been raped. Society is still very traditional, so even when there are laws they are often disregarded. It is difficult to persuade women to go out of the house unaccompanied, and widows are often unable to come to meetings. Women for Women works to provide skills training for women, mainly sewing, shoemaking, building, etc, and provides loans to start small businesses, but this is still at a low level. They also try to encourage women to join opinion-forming groups and involve themselves in local government. Mohini Giri, War Widows'Association, India This offshoot of the Guild of Service was founded in 1955 to help the many young women widowed because of conflict, mainly the wars with Pakistan. It has 36 branches nationwide, and aims to help overcome the stigma and prejudice which widows suffer. On one occasion it organised a mass wedding at which 5,000 widows were remarried. Another hazard faced by widows is molestation by priests at places of pilgrimage, especially in the 'widows' city' of Vrindhavan and Varanasi. The association has started shelters for some of these women and is trying to obtain pensions for them so that they can live independently. Things are improving in the rural areas - but slowly. In one village when a female panchayat leader was elected, some men garlanded a dog to show their disapproval. In the meantime, 50 men are still dying daily in the Kashmir conflict. Workshops
Participants divided into groups to discuss the following topics: Widowhood and cultural practices Poverty, inheritance and human rights Widows and old age Child widows and children of widows The workshops continued on Wednesday morning. Summaries of their discussions. |
