IWD: TLC urges society to pay attention to widows’ welfare    

The society has been enjoined to stop harmful traditional practices against widows, a non-governmental organization, Total Life Concern (TLC), recently made the plea in Lagos.

TLC, which is dedicated to supporting widows, made this plea at a widows’ conference to tackle the challenges facing these vulnerable women at an event it organized in commemoration of this year’s International Widows Day.

At this year’s celebration with the theme: “Accelerating the Achievements of Gender Equality (with emphasis on strengthening land and property rights)”, widows were enlightened on ways to accelerate their rights, with emphasis on the fact that: ‘Protecting Nigeria widows is a vital part of the organization and the overall, strengthening the land and property rights of women is essential in accelerating the achievement of gender equality”.

Edirin Essiet, a lawyer and convener of the initiative, who said for a woman to lose her spouse was enough trauma, stated: “Regardless of the situation, women who have lost their spouse need a healthy body to be there for their children and dependants”.

Stating that empowerment and education are part of the extremely important things needed by vulnerable widows to survive the storm, Essiet said: “They need to know their rights and not subject themselves to harmful traditional practices”, adding that “they have a right to reject those barbaric norms for their wellness. Widows should give quality attention to their health, even as they seek to fend for their wards and surmount several other societal challenges”.

She said over the years, the TLC has empowered over 200 widows through partnerships and support from organisations and well-meaning individuals, stating that the support provided includes health tests such as blood pressure, eye test, among other check-ups.

Essiet, who said: ‘With economic hardship and poverty biting hard, widows in Nigeria face more hurdles in their survival battles”, reeled out programmes including medical outreach initiated for widows in Lagos.

While palliative was distributed to cushion the effects of the hardship, the event also featured a medical outreach for indigent widows in Lagos.

In her remarks, Chairperson of International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA), Nigeria (Lagos chapter), Mrs. Chinwe Efobi, said International Widows Day was set aside by the United Nations to create awareness for widows and the challenges they face so as to eradicate poverty and injustice faced by millions of widows and their dependants across the world.

According to Efobi, the event was to provide legal support to vulnerable widows and help them understand their rights and create ways for them to access lawyers for their survival and defense.

Also speaking, a Lagos divorce Lawyer, Mr Adetunji Adeoye, stressed the need for empowerment, sensitization of widows’ right and having a will to protect widows from the spouse family who scramble and petition the property once their brother is no more.

Adeoye said about 258million widows face challenges worldwide while 15million are Nigerians who have been robbed of their basic human rights and dignity.

‘Widows are often denied inheritance rights, have their property grabbed after the death of partners, and can face extreme stigma and discrimination.” This is the harsh reality of millions of widows across the world, especially in Nigeria.

‘In addition to being devastated by the death of their partners, many widows are denied access to the inheritance of their husband’s property, finance, and cut off from access to their spouse benefits, which can have significant financial impacts on them, their children, and future generations.

“Patriarchal cultures across the country cruelly consign widows to remain unseen, unsupported, and forced to navigate their experiences of grief, loss, or trauma without social welfare or justice.

:Not only are widows saddled with economic insecurity, discrimination and stigmatization, they have been subjected to sexual violence and harmful, degrading and life-threatening traditional practices as part of burial and mourning rites”, Adeoye said.

He advised governments and policymakers to “adopt social and economic reforms to improve widows’ access to inheritance, land pensions, and social protections.”

Stating that widowhood should not be a death sentence, he said: “Non-governmental organisations, faith-based organisations, and corporate bodies should support initiatives that give widows priority in employment, adult education, business capital, healthcare, and psychological counselling.

“There should be an increased emphasis on women empowerment and education which will improve the chances of widows to access material and social welfare. There should be a general campaign that prohibits the mistreatment of widows under the guise of culture or tradition.

“More resources should be deployed towards exposure, education, and information to counter the culture of silence and secrecy which remains the reason for the downward transmission of the culture of abuse against widows”.

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