Noeleen Heyzer, Executive Director, UNIFEM: (The United Nations Development Fund for Women) supporting our conference in 2001
....In the context of our efforts to advance the full realisation of women's human rights and the elimination of all forms of violence against women, the special concerns of widows are of paramount concern to UNIFEM.
WOP (Woman Of Purpose), an African Partner, Uganda
MALISSA' S STORY
Promoting Widows’ Rights Through Alternative Dispute Resolution:
Sixty year old Malisa has been a widow for over fifteen years. Her deceased husband left six women, of which she was the second wife. The first wife died before their husband. Upon their husband’s death, his brothers inherited the four widows. However, Malisa refused to be inherited. Consequently, she was persecuted, and told to leave the homestead although she had nowhere to go. Because her father had passed away many years prior to the death of her husband, she would not be welcomed back to his home because only young widows 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.
Malisa had only one son, who had died in the mid-nineties, and his wife also passed away a year later. It is believed that they died of AIDS but Malisa claims her son and daughter-in-law were bewitched by her co-wives. Malisa persuaded her deceased son’s first born girl to get married so that they could n order to obtain a dowry but the dowry was appropriated by Mailsa’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.
Malisa decided to approach the clan leaders, who unfortunately shared the same view with her stepson; that a widow has no right to own land. Malisa continued her efforts and after some time, the case was forwarded to the sub county chief, and later appealed to the Magistrates court. Unfortunately, the case has been in court for seven years and she does not know how long it will continue since she is not even represented by a lawyer. She is growing old, with no land to cultivate. The result is that she now has to go digging in other people’s gardens in order to get food for subsistence. She was told by her friends that the only way she could succeed was for her to employ a lawyer, but she does not have enough money for a lawyer.
In Mallisa’s own words:
“I had the chance to attend a village meeting where people for Woman of Purpose were explaining to us about Widows Rights. I later approached the organisation for financial assistance to enable me employ a lawyer; but they said they are unable to do so but would help me handle the matter through Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR). These members of Woman of Purpose came and met my deceased husband’s clan-mates. Although my step son was first adamant and even refused to attend the first meeting, he later softened and agreed to attend subsequent meetings. In all, the negotiations totalled to five meetings with the clan members. The members from Woman of Purpose, explained many things to my in-laws and told them that I have a right to own and dig in my gardens. They later gave me back my piece of land together with the rice that was growing on it and my life changed for the better”
Malisa’s story is a result of the work of the Community Resource Assistants, trained by Woman of Purpose, who are now doing a tremendous job within the community! Each Assistant is allocated to be in charge of a specific area of operation although they are encouraged to consult each other and work as a team. The Community’s response to these Community Resource Assistants has been very encouraging. The organisation is literally overwhelmed with the number of requests we receive to handle disputes and explain human/widows rights. The Alternative Dispute Resolution mechanisms of mediation and negotiation have helped many widows get favourable treatment from their in-laws. We also take time and talk to the Community about Stress Management and Communication Skills. We discovered that some of these disputes are aggravated by stress and poor communication e.g. a stressed widow goes shouting at a stressed brother in law resulting in a serious quarrel or fight, yet the situation could have been handled amicably if both parties had managed their own stress and communicated their concerns effectively.
Jane Opolot, Project Director, HOPE FOR WIDOWS, Pallisa, Uganda.
From WRI Newsletter 7 - Full copies of the Newsletter available from WRI
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