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SOKOTO, NIGERIA, Aug 03 (IPS) – In February this yr, Chichi Okonkwo not solely misplaced her husband however was stripped of all the things they owned collectively. Her husband was severely injured in a automobile accident a couple of month earlier. Regardless of being rushed to a hospital in Enugu, the place they resided, he succumbed to his accidents weeks later. To compound her grief, Okonkwo’s late husband’s male siblings forcibly entered her dwelling within the metropolis a number of hours after his passing, confiscating her husband’s land paperwork, automobile, cash, garments, and marriage certificates.
Within the wake of those heart-wrenching occasions, Okonkwo was left with nothing however her six kids. The eldest is simply 18.
“They took all the things my husband and I owned and forcibly evicted me and my kids from our dwelling,” laments Okonkwo. “They heartlessly claimed that, as a widow, I had no rights to any of my late husband’s possessions.”
Okonkwo’s kids at the moment are out of faculty as a result of she was a housewife who trusted her husband’s revenue and is now left with nothing. She revealed that her late husband’s siblings, who seized and have been conscious of his financial institution PIN, callously left her with a mere 1 000 naira (roughly USD 2) out of the two million naira ($2,600) he had in his account.
Okonkwo stated her husband’s family swore to pull her to court docket to problem her rights, however she can’t afford a lawyer as a result of her monetary scenario.
In Nigeria, there are around 15 million widows.
Sadly, widows within the nation typically face the denial of their primary human rights as a result of conventional and cultural practices rooted in patriarchal beliefs.
In response to The World Bank, “In a lot of Africa, marriage is the only real foundation for ladies’s entry to social and financial rights, and these are misplaced upon divorce or widowhood.”
In a rustic like Nigeria, the place males dominate the financial and political programs, girls are sometimes anticipated to be submissive. The challenges girls face are significantly amplified once they grow to be widows, making a doubly marginalized subgroup. Furthermore, this susceptible place typically exposes widows to dehumanizing rituals and harmful practices.
These dangerous practices embody mourning rites that contain widows sleeping with their deceased husbands’ corpses, shaving of widows’ heads, seclusion, carrying black or white garments, and being compelled to sleep and sit on the ground or mat. Moreover, some widows are coerced into marrying different members of the deceased husband’s household.
Regardless of legal guidelines granting girls the proper to inherit their husbands’ property, many widows can nonetheless not declare their rightful share of land and property.
Efforts to fight these practices, such because the Violence Against Persons Prohibition Act (VAPP) enacted in 2015, have confronted challenges in implementation and adoption by all states. In response to the legislation, offenders are topic to a 500,000 naira ($648) nice or two years in jail. However arrests and prosecution of offenders are uncommon. And gender-based violence has persevered, which incorporates violence in direction of widows.
The enforcement of legal guidelines towards offenders has been hindered by spiritual and cultural norms that promote silence and suppression of victimization circumstances. Victims typically face threats or strain from relations, neighborhood, or spiritual leaders every time they attempt to report incidents to legislation enforcement.
Like Okonkwo, Sarah Temidayo’s life took a tragic flip when she misplaced her husband of 4 years to lung most cancers in 2019. Nonetheless, her grief was compounded by the actions of her husband’s family, who invaded her dwelling in Lagos mere hours after his passing, intent on claiming all the things that belonged to him. They even went as far as to take her wedding ceremony robe, certificates, and her then-five-year-old daughter’s garments. Devastated and with out recourse, Temitope sought justice by way of the authorized system, however her efforts have yielded no outcomes.
“I didn’t choose a pin out of my home. I needed to begin my life another time,” she says.
Sadly, the nightmare didn’t finish there for Temidayo. She was subjected to fixed threats from her husband’s mom, who continued to torment her and accuse her of killing her son by way of witchcraft. These threats escalated to a terrifying climax when assassins attacked her at a bus cease in March 2021. She managed to outlive, albeit with six bullets lodged in her leg. Regardless of reporting the incident to the police, no investigation was carried out, leaving her feeling deserted by the system meant to guard her.
In response to Ifeoma Oguejiofor, a authorized practitioner in Southeast Nigeria, widows face challenges in searching for justice because of the understaffed courts, which might trigger delays within the decision of circumstances. Moreover, the monetary burden of hiring a lawyer turns into a major impediment for a lot of widows, making it troublesome to entry correct authorized illustration to deal with their circumstances.
“There’s a important distinction between the legal guidelines written in books and the precise pursuit of justice. In response to the legislation, a surviving partner, whether or not in a standard marriage, a protracted interval of cohabitation, or a wedding registered beneath the act, is entitled to inherit the property of their deceased partner. Nonetheless, reaching justice by way of the authorized system is usually a protracted and dear course of, significantly for widows who’ve already misplaced a considerable portion of their property to their husband’s family,” she explains.
“It’s excessive time the federal government, conventional rulers, and spiritual clerics implement legal guidelines to guard widows in Nigeria. No girl ought to be discriminated towards as a result of she misplaced her husband,” says Hope Nwakwesi, the founding father of Almanah Hope Foundation, a non-governmental group centered on supporting Nigerian widows.
Nwakwesi, a widow who misplaced her police husband in 1994, endured distressing cultural rites, together with having her hair shaved and carrying a mourning costume for a yr. She confronted additional hardships as her family forcibly took her property, and he or she was expelled from her office and residential within the police barracks. Regardless of searching for assist, many, together with law enforcement officials who provided help, demanded sexual favors in return.
Now, Nwakwesi is advocating for a bill in Nigeria’s legislative chamber. The invoice goals to eradicate repressive cultural practices towards widows and safeguard their elementary human rights.
“My aim is to get the invoice I am combating for accepted and signed into legislation by the Senate. The present Violence In opposition to Individuals Prohibition Regulation is just too obscure and lacks particular clauses for safeguarding the rights of widows. As soon as the brand new invoice turns into legislation, those that discriminate towards widows will face arrest and prosecution by legislation enforcement businesses,” says Nwakwesi.
Abiola Akiyode-Afolabi, a civil rights activist and founding director of Women Advocates Research and Documentation Centre, famous that “For the federal government to guard widows successfully, they need to evaluate and replace present legal guidelines associated to widows’ rights to make sure they’re complete, enforceable, and in keeping with worldwide human rights requirements.”
“Merely having legal guidelines in place is just not sufficient; the federal government should guarantee their efficient implementation in any respect ranges of the justice system. This requires coaching and sensitizing legislation enforcement officers, judges, and authorized practitioners on the rights of widows and the significance of defending them,” she provides.
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© Inter Press Service (2023) — All Rights ReservedOriginal source: Inter Press Service
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