Nineteen years after the introduction of International Widows Day, and fourteen years after its adoption by the UN as an official day of action, millions of widows are not yet seeing an improvement in their desperate plight, a new study has found.
Commissioned by the Loomba Foundation, the UN-registered NGO specialising in widowhood issues, University of Cambridge researchers analysed the conditions of widows in 11 countries across South Asia (Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Sir Lanka), Latin America (Guatemala, Chile) and Sub-Saharan Africa (Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Malawi and South Africa), tracking advances in legislation and support programmes in the period since International Widows Day was introduced.
What they found was that while awareness has grown, discrimination against widows based on deep-rooted cultural prejudices remains rife in many communities – manifested in degrading widowhood rituals, inheritance grabbing, social marginalisation and exploitation – and the extent of destitution affecting widows and their dependents represents an insurmountable obstacle to achieving the UN Goals for Sustainable Development unless significant progress can be made to improve the position.
The study, titled “Not Leaving Widows Behind”, finds that the lack of data on widowhood – first identified in 2002 by the UN which dubbed it “the sin of omission” – still persists today. It calls for research on widowhood to be scaled up substantially to provide a better understanding of the challenges faced and support required by widowed women. “Achieving significant improvement in their lives will require a methodical, evidence-based approach to policy formulation,” it concludes.
Launching the study at the House of Lords at an event attended by Development Minister Anneliese Dodds and the High Commissioners, Ambassadors and senior diplomats of the countries covered by the study, Lord Raj Loomba said:
“The plain fact is that eradicating the scourge of discrimination requires detailed knowledge of what is happening, so that governments can deliver effective support, and so that the ignorance which feeds discrimination can be countered, to start changing the cultural attitudes that are so deeply rooted in many communities.
“Our own efforts, and those of the many other organisations listed in the report, can and do transform the lives of widows and their families. But looking at the scale of the challenge, we can only scratch the surface.
“It is time to tackle the sin of omission head on – to work with Governments and others to develop a structured programme of research to support our determined efforts to move the dial for widows.
This important new study adds significantly to the case for doing so.”
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