WRI Newsletter 4th Edition October 2005

The Widows Charter

This draft Charter of Widows Rights has been drawn up by Margaret Owen who is keen to get feedback on the Charter ( email below)

Preamble

 NOTING THAT all women are equal before the law and that the human rights of women are inalienable, universal and non-transferable

NOTING THAT in man countries widows suffer from low status, discrimination, violence and lack of legal rights,

NOTING THAT in many communities widows are stereotyped as evil, bringing bad luck, and that social attitudes to widowhood obstruct them from fully participating in civil society

NOTING THAT in spite of international and domestic laws guaranteeing equality in inheritance, land ownership, and criminalising violence to women widows are often banned from inheriting, evicted from their homes, deprived of all their property, and left in destitution

NOTING THAT widows are often victims of degrading and life-threatening traditional practices in the context of funeral and burial practices

NOTING THAT there is no special reference to discrimination and abuse of widows in the beijing platform for action

NOTING THAT widows are key social and economic players in development

REAFFIRMING the important role that widows do and may play in the resolution and prevention of conflicts

EXPRESSING CONCERN that the impact of this treatment of widows has severe and negative implications for the whole of society. in particular because the poverty of widows deprives their chldren of their human rights to shelter, food, education and the rights of the child.

RECOGNISING the urgent need to mainstream a widows’ perspective in all policy developments and decisions

REAFFIRMING the need to implement fully all international human rights and humanitarian law that protects the rights of women and girls, irrespective of their age or marital status, during and after confict as well as in times of peace

REQUIRES all governments to use all measures possible to eliminate this discrimination, and to work with widows’ groups to assess their numbers and their situation so as to develop policies and laws to alleviate their isolation and poverty, and acknowledge their valuable social capital.

ARTICLE 1

Widows shall enjoy equality with all women and men, irrespective of their age or marital status.

Any treatment of a widow which differs from the treatment, legally, socially, economically, of a widower shall be deemed to be discriminatory and therefore illegal.

Widows shall not be discriminated against, in word or deed. either in family and private life, or in community and public life.

The State is guilty, by omission, of breach of the law, if it implicitly condones discrimination and abuse of the widow by non-state actors, such as family members.

ARTICLE 2

• Widows shall have the right to inherit from their husband’s estate, whether or not the deceased spouse left a will.
• Widows may not be disinherited
• Widows may not be “inherited” as wives or concubines to their husband’s brother, nor forcibly placed in a “levirate” relationship, nor forcibly made pregnant by a relative in order to continue producing children in her dead husband’s name.
• A widow has the right to remarry
• A widow must be free to marry someone of her own choice
• Polygamy and temporary marriage is forbidden.
• “Honour Killings” are murder
• Daughters shall inherit equally with sons
• “Property-Grabbing” and “chasing-off” are criminal offences, punishable as the most serious category of crime
• Anyone who attempts or manages to deprive a widow of any of her property, take custody of her children, without an order of a judge or magistrate shall be guilt of the most serious category of crime
• Anyone, whether a relative or a stranger, who seeks or manages to gain control of the dead husband’s bank account, insurance policy, accident compensation claims, without the order of the Court is guilty of the most serious category of crime
• Free Legal Aid shall be given to widows in all inheritance, property and personal status disputes

ARTICLE 3

• Anyone who arranges or coerces a widow to participate in harmful traditional practices in the context of funeral and burial rites shall be guilty of the most serious category of crime ( for example: ritual cleansing through sex; scarification; isolation; restrictions on diet and dress endangering mental and physical health)
• Anyone who has sex