Agonies of widows hit by harsh nigerian traditions. Augustine abbey, also known as idikoko, is a ghanaian actor and movie maker known for comedy. These widows find themselves in 75 different ethnic groups, most of which discriminate against widows. Effects of widowhood rites on the psychosocial wellbeing of women in nadowli district upperwest regionghana. Many women in several nigerian communities dread the experience of widowhood. The information has been carefully selected and compiled from unhcrs global network of field. The government should be asked to clarify what its efforts are, in. African traditional widowhood rites and their benefits andor. Electric, exhilarating, beautifully crafted, ghana must go is a testament to the transformative power of unconditional love, from a debut novelist of extraordinary talent. Most of these rites are meant to cleanse the widow. Gcms enables customs to perform all necessary customsrelated processing.
Widowhood rituals and widow inheritance in the balikumbat. Widowhood is a transition period which the widow enters via rituals of separation and comes out via rites of reintegration. Witchcraft, widowhood rites and female genital mutilation fgm have been identified as top three. There are 823,562 widowed persons in ghana out of a population of about 24,000,000. On the same day, she perform the semipurification rites by taking her bath around 4. The widow is not expected to receive condolence visits from sympathisers during the period of mourning, she is to be remarried by a relative of the late husband, she is to sit on the floor or be naked during any period of the husbands burial rite, weep and wail loudly at intervals, she must remain in confinement after the death of the husband. We are a nonprofit organisation focused on helping alleviate the plight of widows and orphans in the northern region of ghana.
A widow is a woman whose spouse has died, while a widower is a man whose spouse has died. May 25, 2018 news ghana is ghana s leading online news portal for business in west africa and around the world. In many traditional communities of developing countries especially in africa, widowhood represents a social death for women. The impact of widowhood rite on the ghanaian woman in the. Firstly, it presents the pertinent background and historical context of the issue of violence against women. During widowhood rites, women are vulnerable to abuse especially by members of their husbands families, who typically care for them during the rites. The department of international environment and development. Traditionally, after the death of the man who is usually the bread winner, widows may be forced to submit to a traditional custom called wife inheritance. Policy response to widowhood rites among the awori of ogun. The types of cultural rites and ordeals which akan women used to go through at the death of their spouses in yesteryears are presented.
The widowhood ritual safeguarded and guaranteed the entrance and acceptance of the deceased spouse into the world of the ancestors. The other hundred is a unique photobook project aimed as a counterpoint to the forbes 100 and other media rich lists by telling the stories of people around the world who are not rich but who deserve to be celebrated its 100 photostories move beyond the stereotypes and cliches that fill so much of the worlds media to explore the lives of people whose aspirations. Next, this paper introduces the topic of widow cleansing and the tension between the international and local discourse. The second stage of mourning begins at the end of the seventh day. May 25, 2018 youth empowered to fight negative widowhood rites. Recent examples on the web alvarez has her protagonist antonia who resembles her creator in age, background and temperament face several dilemmas at once, including widowhood, a mentally ill sister and an unexpected, pregnant houseguest. Effects of widowhood rites on the psychosocial wellbeing of women in nadowli district upperwest regionghana article pdf available. Nigerian widow, in the course of fulfilling funeral rites, is subjected to a greater agony than the grief of the loss of her husband. African traditional widowhood rites and their benefits and.
The tension indifferent meaning of widow cleansing is readily apparent in the discourse. Widowhood definition is the fact or state of being a widow. Widows in third world nations rituals, burial, body. A widow from a rural area described a positive experience. Wicked widowhood practices that must be abolished in nigeria. Some african widowhood rites in the phokwane area this section describes some of the widowhood rites in the phokwane area of limpopo. Widow inheritance also known as bride inheritance is a cultural and social practice whereby a widow is required to marry a male relative of her late husband, often his brother. The silent victims article pdf available in international journal of social welfare 1.
It then follows that a widow is an adult female human being who lost the spouse to the cold hands of death and has not remarried. She must discard self pity and explore avenues for survival. The underlying motivations for widowhood rites are linked to cultural belief and local cosmology that the widow is a prime suspect of her spouses death and that the widow would therefore need to prove her innocence to the family through these rituals. He played for hearts of oak in ghana, except for the 199495 season at sportul studen. Although sources did not specify whether the following widowhood rites apply to the akan people, this additional information regarding widowhood rites in ghana is of interest.
This allows the families of the deceased to choose a brother or relative of the late husband to marry the widow. Where progress has been made, it is due to widows working together in an association. Agonies of widows hit by harsh nigerian traditions vanguard. Wicked widowhood practices that must be abolished in. Ghanaian widows are routinely accused by the community of having caused the death of their husband, or even of literally. Mar 05, 20 welcome to the official website of the widows and orphans movement. Inability to make decisionsor making a series of bad decisions because concentration is too difficult. Ghanaians introduction, location, language, folklore. Section six is the data presentation which includes data analysis and discussion of findings and the last section concludes the study. The types of cultural rites and ordeals which akan women used to go through at the death of. The issue of widowhood rites, which has been described as one of the most dehumanizing, uncivilized and negative cultural practices in the world, due to its.
Widow cleansing is predominantly considered, by the. Also, a widow 1s made to shave in order to look unattractive, so that men would not eye her for love in that pitiful condition the mourning mood. The issue of widowhood rites, which has been described as one of the most dehumanising, uncivilised and negative cultural practices in the world, due to its associated violation of the rights of women, is still rife in some parts of the three northern regions of ghana. Widowhood entails the observance of certain rites by the woman. The gadangmes are one ethnic group that lives primarily in the greater accra of ghana. The paper argues that widows form a significant proportion of the awori population, yet, much is not known about their plight nor policy response to the practice of widowhood rites and its associated challenges among the study group. Pdf ghanaian akan womens experiences of widowhood and. Widowhood rites performed by the akan people, particularly for chiefs. The impact of widowhood rite on the ghanaian woman in the new. Hausa is a second language for more ghanaians, but can be used to communicate with people from other groups. It also sought to find out why widowhood rites persist in spite of ghana.
Widowhood definition of widowhood by merriamwebster. In igbo society, women either married, unmarried or widowed are being tossed up and down. The plight of widowhood in africa the times group malawi. Eighty six percent 86% of these are women, which means there are over 700,000 widows statsghana. Widows in third world nations have the potential to play a crucial role in the future of their societies and the development of peace, democracy, and justice, yet their basic needs and their valuable contributions are mostly ignored. The widows mourning of her deceased spouse is a special period, characterized by a cycle of practices. The extreme restrictions on widows mobility and lifestyles breaches all articles of the convention. India edit until the early 19th century it was considered honourable in some parts of india for a hindu widow to immolate herself on her late husbands funeral pyre. Assistant professor lucky eboh and thomas boye from the university of makerere in ghana in an article titled widowhood in african society and its effects on womens health tackled at length the oppressive and humiliating practices women face as a result of the death of their husbands. Some of these rites include cruel and degrading treatment. Hausa, a nigerian language introduced into ghana nearly 200 years ago, has become a lingua franca common language throughout the country. It also sought to find out why widowhood rites persist in spite of ghana being a signatory to many human rights instruments. Tradenet interfaces gcms to all stakeholders by exchanging edi files.
This is not just because of the pain arising from the loss of ones husband, but more so, as a result of the numerous dehumanising rituals and practices associated with widowhood. The state of having lost ones spouse to death is termed widowhood. The naming ceremony among the ewes a tribe in ghana from the volta region is known as vinehedego. The widow must learn to define, describe and discuss her own experience just as it occurs to her the way virginia woolf prescribes in modern fiction 1925 the widow must recognize her alma of being and her needs. The body of my husband was yet to be put in the mortuary when the brother took me to another room and asked about the documents of the house, insisting that i had to leave. Going through the rites taught me many things which i learned from the women who took care of me through the widowhood rites. Widowhood rites still rife in northern regions modern ghana. An elderly person of good moral standard is chosen to. The widow bears the responsibilities and challenges of the immediate family which was formerly borne by herself and the husband, all alone. The rite of mourning the demise of a husband in nigeria has for a very long time been taken to the extreme by the relatives of the dearly departed either because they have plans of punishing the. This paper examines policy response to widowhood rites among the awori of ogun state, south west, nigeria. A customs management software called gcms ghana customs management system b an electronic data interchange platform called tradenet.
Rather, those practices have been regarded as part of the customs and traditions of the people. Pdf effects of widowhood rites on the psychosocial wellbeing. Bethanne patrick, washington post, ten books to read in april, 1 apr. This should be done in synergy with traditional chiefs. Widowerhood definition is the fact or state of being a widower. If youre having trouble moving through the grief process, seek help. To achieve these aims, i relied largely from the materials on isiokpoikwerre widowhood rites.
Widowhood practices among the akan of ghanayesterday and today. The harmful nature of these widowhood practices on the woman as an individual with rights is the focus of this. Refworld contains a vast collection of reports relating to situations in countries of origin, policy documents and positions, and documents relating to international and national legal frameworks. News ghana is ghanas leading online news portal for business in west africa and around the world. The description is based on research conducted by pauw, published in 1990, and confirmed by other researchers in some other african contexts. Most ghanaians speak two or more african languages. Ethnic ga family names surnames such as lartey, nortey, aryee, poku. The widow was given a pair of split calabash in which she was to eat and drink from and was not to wash hands before or after meals. He was also capped for ghana, and was a squad member in the 1992 african cup of nations and the 1997 korea cup. Yet, there has been little critical analysis of such inequalities, especially on widowabuse and violations of their property rights. Pdf effects of widowhood rites on the psychosocial well.
As soon as the woman becomes a half widow, her status in the family is reduced to a maid and in most cases, she. Ghana is located on the south coast of west african encompassing. The widows and orphans ministry wom was founded in 1993 by betty ayagiba or ayageba public agenda 19 june 2006. Moving with great elegance through time and place, ghana must go charts the sais circuitous journey to one another. Policy response to widowhood rites among the awori of. Effects of widowhood rites on the psychosocial wellbeing of women in nadowli district upperwest region ghana article pdf available january 2014 with 5,082 reads how we measure reads. Ancestorhood was to be achieved only if all the norms associated to widowhood were rigidly respected ohale 2009. Refworld is the leading source of information necessary for taking quality decisions on refugee status. The widow smears herself and her clothing with black charcoal and remains so for three months. A further reason for shaving the hair is the beiief that it is a symbol of breaking off all links between the widow and the deceased husband. In many parts of africa widowhood rites are widely believed to be practices that any.
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