Older women and widows are often left marginalised in their communities. 

Sabine
Kinzer is an SI UN Representative and a member of the NGO Committee on Aging at the UN in
Geneva. 

"The problems
that surround violence against women are familiar. We know that there are
problems of victim blaming, low rates of prosecution and social stigma. Women
disproportionately suffer at the hands of physical and psychological violence
because of entrenched social stereotypes that consistently lowers their status
in communities. What is good is that we are talking about these problems more
and more – this is one of the reasons why the 16 Days of Activism are so
important.

"But there is
an enormous silence around the abuse of older women. This is a silence that
needs to end. I know through my own experience that Soroptimists are very well
placed to contribute to the reduction of abuse committed against older women.
It is this grassroots knowledge that I want to bring to the UN as an SI Representative.
Through working at the UN we are able to provide advice on the best practice
that will help older women, and sign statements which makes where we stand
clear to governments.

 

"Many of the
problems linked to violence against women are exacerbated for older women.
Older women are more isolated, are more likely to experience poverty, and less
likely to have a support network who will remove them from situations in
violence. What can make matters worse, is the health issues that affect older
women. The processes of aging can mean that the effects of abuse are more acute
and those health problems may also prevent women from being in a position to
report the abuse they are forced to live with. Medication abuse is a
significant risk factor for older women, who are often not equipped to
recognise when this is happening. So far, data on older women and the violence they encounter in their various settings are not yet collected and analysed systematically. This means that the facts and the extent of the problem are very hard to reveal.

"Soroptimist
International has strong values which would significantly better the lives and
status of older women. Older women are not valued by society as they should be;
a lifelong approach to education is a very important tool to help empower and
enable older women. Older women in the work place are often discriminated
against as well, with reports indicating that the gender pay gap increases with
age.

"The Beijing
Platform for Action, which strongly interlinks with SI values, does recognise
that older women are particularly vulnerable to violence. However, the amount
of attention this area is given is low. The NGO Committees on Aging in Geneva,
Vienna and New York are vital for increasing the level of visibility the
specific problems and realities that affect older women. That SI is present on
those committees is also important as SI is able to give older women a global
voice at the UN.

"During these
16 Days of Activism, we must still remember the violence and abuse experienced
by older women". 

"No woman should lose her status, livelihood or property when
her husband dies, yet millions of widows in our world face persistent
abuse, discrimination, disinheritance and destitution." Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon

Widows in Nigeria often face abuse from their communities
and families. This abuse can be physical, emotional, even sexual, and is almost
always economically damaging. These well documented practices have been enacted
for hundreds of years, but it is time for them to end. Today, on Day 9 of the
16 Days of Activism, Soroptimist International examines the abuse that faces
widows in Nigeria and celebrates the actions taken by Nigerian Soroptimists to
combat it.

“Before my
husband was buried, I was locked up with his corpse for three hours in the
belief that if I killed him, I would die there. Before then I was made to drink
his bath water. I was then forced to sleep in the grave yard for two days after
his burial to finally convince them I did not kill my husband” A quote from a
widow.

It is never
justifiable to strip a woman of her rights because her husband is dead, so
Soroptimists decided to take action! In Nigeria, Soroptimists have been
campaigning for many years for the extension of human rights legislation to
protect widows from this inhumane treatment and for better legal protection for
widows’ rights.

A widow’s
ordeal begins immediately after the death of her husband is announced. The
in-laws can demand a list of the man’s property, holdings, investments, bank
accounts and so on. The widow is further required to take an oath as a proof
that she has not concealed any relevant information on her husband’s wealth.

"Our entire
property was confiscated. A lorry was sent from home to come and pack all the
merchandise in his supermarket. All his electronic items were also packed away”– quote from a widow aged 38.

“I was
ordered home from Lagos to explain the cause of his death. After I had narrated
everything to them (in-laws), they asked for details of his statement of
account and other valuables items which I gave over to them.” – quote from a widow
aged 35.

These
historical practices perpetuate violence against women. Women have been
excommunicated by their villages and communities after refusing to collaborate
in the rituals associated with widowhood. This victimisation of widows spurred
Nigerian Soroptimists to action, and they began to lobby the Nigerian
Government and called for the establishment of homes to cater for the needs of
widows in distress and to drive change.

The pressure
from Soroptimist activists has already begun to yield results. The president of
the Nigerian Senate, Senator David Mark, enabled the speedy passage of a Bill
entitled ‘Violence Against Persons Prohibition Act’, a bill designed to bring
an end to domestic violence and harmful practices against women. New measures enshrined
in this bill would prohibit all forms of violence, discrimination, provide
maximum protection and medial action to help victims, and allow for the
punishment of offenders. This was a huge step forward!

“We shall
give the Bill the utmost priority and urgency. We shall do everything possible
to stop violence, especially domestic violence and violence against women in
their public and private lives.” Senator
David Mark

This event
is part of a series of high profile actions taken by the Nigerian Government
and Judiciary under pressure from Soroptimist International and other Women’s
NGOs.

To date,
twenty houses have been built for widows and their children in Akwa Ibom State
in Nigeria. The Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Mr Godswill Akpabio had earlier
signed into law a bill banning the wicked traditional practices dealt out to
widows. By campaigning for laws to protect widows, Soroptimists also encourage
practical action on those issues. Now in Nigeria, plans are underway to help
provide skills training for widows to help them gain financial independence.

The work to
help empower widows, and to bring an end to these cruel practices is not over.
However, Soroptimists have been a key part of the ongoing change. This amazing
works proves that it is possible to overcome social and legal barriers to
women’s empowerment.

 

Project round-up

SI Cologne, Germany, Der Sack e.V. (The Bag)

In Cologne many poor people, especially old women, have only
very little money to live on. In an ongoing project started in 2011, SI Cologne regularly
support the non-profit organisation, Der Sack e.V, founded in 2010. Der Sack
e.V seeks to reduce the needs of poor people and Soroptimist members buy food
and other provisions, put them into bags and deliver them to those in need.

SI Griffith, Riverina, Australia, Seniors Week Women’s
Wellbeing Forum

Working with a grant from the State Government of New South
Wales together with local business leaders and professionals, who all presented their
sessions at no cost, SI Griffith successfully applied for a $500 grant from the
New South Wales Government to run a Women’s Wellbeing Forum in Seniors Week.
This event was held at a local club and was well advertised in the community.
Nine speakers presented sessions on Staying Young While Getting Older, Legal
and Financial Matters, Medication – Helping You Live Longer (especially in
relation to medication checks), Aged Services Emergency Team, Volunteering,
Community Connections and Support and Eye Health. There are many women in the community
who do not access current advice in relation to a range of legal, financial,
medical and lifestyle issues that will or do affect them in their senior years.
This forum was an opportunity for them to get up to date advice.

SI hoped to encourage older women to take every opportunity
they can to ensure their financial security, health and general well being. All
sessions had a question and answer component at the end so that individuals
could ask questions pertaining to their situation. All speakers encouraged
follow up either with them or other professionals. Feedback from participants
very positive. Many said that they had been given information that they did not
have before. Some participants followed up information from various sources
after the forum.

S.I. Hornsby Inc, New South Wales, Australia, Hornsby
Kuring-gai Women’s Shelter

Following a speech by Annabelle Daniel, CEO of Women’s
Community Shelters, SI Hornsby Inc, started to advocate in their local area to
organise a women’s shelter for crisis accomodation, particularly for older
women. A number of members were associated with the Domestic Violence Network
and the Hornsby Homelessness Task force and meetings were arranged with the
Mayor of Hornsby, local member Matt Kean, appropriate service organisations and
local business. One in every 289 Australians are homeless and forty percent of
these are women. An aging population, one in four of homeless women are aged
over 55. In the Hornsby area there are over 300 homeless people either sleeping
rough, in cars couch surfing or staying with family or friends. Many factors
contribute to homelessness; domestic violence, drug and alcohol abuse,
gambling, unemployment, mental health problems, financial issues and family
breakdown amongst them. There is not enough crisis accommodation to meet the
demand particularly for women without dependants as those with children usually
take priority particularly in a domestic violence situation.

SI Hornsby hope to see an appropriate premises set up to
accommodate a Women’s Shelter in the Hornsby area which could provide crisis
accommodation and ongoing support for women in need. Fundraising and other
efforts from members in advocating for a Women’s shelter have certainly been of
benefit, with a property planned to open soon.

SI Slough Windsor and Maidenhead, London Chilterns, Older
peoples forum

In an ongoing project in partnership with the NHS started earlier
this year, SI Slough Windsor and Maidenhead are offering a voice for elderly
women’s issues. Helping direct the commissioning services for older women, an
SI member sat as a member on the local older peoples forum, ensuring that women’s
issues were highlighted on the agenda for meetings.

SI Sigatoka, Fiji, Widows- Establishing Their Needs

Observing the International Day for Widows, a Soroptimist
from SI Sigatoka brought the plight of the many widows in the very rural
indigenous community, to the clubs attention. These woman were invited to the
village community hall. Some empowerment topics were covered and then there was
a discussion to establish the key problems and needs. Problems were mostly
related to living in such a remote area, with no access to employment
opportunities, resulting in financial problems. Shortage of food and clothing
plus proper shelter were also issues. Social issues in relation to their own
daughters becoming single mothers and other traditional issues and village
protocols. This research data was then brought to the notice of the respective
Government department; Women and Welfare and Poverty Alleviation. Ministry is
looking at designing a Welfare grant for these women on a case by case basis
and SI Sigatoka are jointly planning micro financing projects.

SI Luleå Gammelstad, Sweden, Rwanda project

Gisenyi SC has supported a refugee camp on the border to
Democratic Republic of Congo for a long time and investigated the needs for
women in the camp. In dialogue with them, SI Lulea Gammelstad decided to
support them. The chosen projects looked to facilitate the women (most often
widows) in the camp, in cooking food and managing house work. With more
efficiency the women could then use their time for trading milk, fruit, vegetables
and other things at the border of DR Congo and hence support the family.

 

SI Lulea Gammelstad provided houses in the camp with
environmental and more effective stoves. Previously women had to cook over open
fire on the ground. The new stoves gave them a better working position, as they
no longer need to collect as much wood, and with two stove plates, they can
share the cooking with another woman. The stove is also easier to keep clean. Soroptimists
also provided water tanks aside the houses to collect rainwater, for use in the
households. The water is led from the roofs by gutters to tanks of solid
rubber. A tap on the tank makes it easy to collect the water. According to
Gisenyi SC, women are very satisfied with both the stoves and the water tanks.
GSC has an ongoing dialogue with representatives for all the women.

 

SI Sina,Nigeria, Banning of Wicked Cultural and Traditional
Practices Against Widows

Project Partnerships; AKWA IBOM STATE OF NIGERIA HOUSE
OF ASSEMBLY. GOVERNOR GODSWILL AKPABIO, GOVERNOR OF AKWA-IBOM STATE OF NIGERIA

In an ongoing project, SI Sina partnered with some of the
NGO’s in Nigeria to lobby the State houses of assemblies, the Federal House of
Representatives and Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to make laws that
will protect women and the girl child.

In certain parts of Nigeria, the maltreatment of widows is
common. In-laws and the community subject them to physical and emotional abuses
such as being made to sit on the floor; being confined from a month to one
year; having their hair literally scraped off with razors or broken bottles;
not being allowed to bathe; being made to routinely weep in public; being
forced to drink the water used to wash their husband’s corpse. We set out to
stop such evil practices.

SI Sina has held series of workshops, seminars and
road-shows tasking and encouraging the Nigerian lawmakers at all levels to
legislate against all oppressive and injurious laws standing against widows in
the country. This call was reiterated by Sina on the 23rd of June while marking
an event to commemorate the International Widows Day.

Following these campaigns, Sina recommends among other
things that: 1. Nigeria lawmakers should legislate against all oppressive,
injurious and degrading widowhood practices. 2. Government at the three tiers
should endeavour to provide functional basic education to the citizens to
adequately prepare them for meeting the challenges of bereavement. The cries
and advocacy has begun to bear fruits with the recent laudable act of a
Governor of a state in Nigeria, Governor Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom State of
Nigeria having recently signed into law a bill passed by the state House of
Assembly banning the cultural and traditional practice whereby widows are made
to drink the bath water of their dead husbands, have their hair shaved and
their deceased husband’s property seized.

As this is an on going project The club is expecting that
more Governors from other States of the Federation will emulate the Akwa- Ibom
State Governor and ban such practices in their States.

SI Soroptimist International Lakewood/Long Beach, United
States of America, Widows Support Group

Pathways Volunteer Hospice discovered that often Widowers
were left alone and unsure of how to process next steps in their lives after
their spouses had passed on. A Widowers Support Group was needed. The Widowers
Support Group fell in line with The SI mission to help the lives of women and
girls. Pathways submitted an application and was awarded with a service grant
for our Organization.

 

SI Jersey, North West England and the Isle of Man, Project
Mwezi in Kenya

SI Jersey North have been working with St.Clement’s Church
to provide financial support for a Widows Sewing Foundation in the Kenya
village of Rabai. The club set out to help widows in the village by providing
financial help to enable them enhance their sewing foundation. Their aim is to
make washable sanitary towels for the young girls in orphanages, in special
needs schools and the local Isaac Nyondo School. This will enable them to
continue their schooling through their teenage years.

SI Jersey donated a sum of money initially, and on seeing
the photos of the sewing classes, and the successful manufacture of the towels,
decided to donate another sum. It is their intent to continue to fund raise for
this worthwhile project. The emotional and physical wellbeing and delight of
these young girls being given free access to washable sanitary towels is so
encouraging and seems such a small thing. Additionally the project is helping
the women of the village to have small, but gainful employment.