Invisible Women, Invisible Problems
The impact of the loss of a partner is devastating. When it comes to women, it gets magnified due to the long-term struggle for their fundamental rights and dignity. Armed conflicts resulted in displacement, and in more recent times, the COVID-19 pandemic has led to an enhanced number of people losing their partners. In 2010, the UN adopted June 23 as the International Widows Day. When tragedy strikes in a family due to the loss of life, often the family and friends gather and grieve for a short period and move on with their lives. The widow and their families experience grief and trauma for more extended periods. Certain cultures stigmatise widows. Sati practised in the past in South Asia, and widow-strangling practices in Fiji are some examples. Vrindavan, in UP, is also known as the city of widows. There are ~258 million widows around the world. 0.5% of them are child widows. 78% of the widowed population are women. The sudden loss of a spouse can be devastating, leading to widowhood. The sudden loss of a spouse impacts men as they lose their primary source of social support. What can we do? Be empathetic and understand. Enhance awareness, advocacy, social support, and empowerment, and push governments to implement policy reform.
For many women, becoming a widow does not just mean the heartache of losing a husband but often losing everything else as well.
Cherie Blair
The impact of the loss of a partner is devastating. When it comes to women, it gets magnified due to the long-term struggle for their fundamental rights and dignity. Armed conflicts resulted in displacement, and in more recent times, the COVID-19 pandemic has led to an enhanced number of people losing their partners. In 2010, the UN adopted June 23 as the International Widows Day. The effort of the Loomba Foundation and its global campaign led to the UN declaring it as an international observation. In response to what Rajinder Loomba has witnessed, the struggles of his mother becoming widowed at a young age led to the Loomba Foundation working on the issues faced by women during widowhood, especially in developing countries. The focus of observation is to garner support for empowering widows to support themselves and their families, addressing the social stigmas they face. When tragedy strikes in a family due to the loss of life, often the family and friends gather and grieve for a short period and move on with their lives. The widow and their families experience grief and trauma for more extended periods.
Certain cultures stigmatise widows. In some parts of Europe and Latin America, they wore black for the rest of their lives to signify their mourning. Sati was practised in the past in South Asia, where a woman would immolate herself upon her husband’s death. The people of Fiji practised widow-strangling. Vrindavan, a city in the Mathura district of Uttar Pradesh, is also known as the city of widows. Often, families dump the widows in this city.
There are ~258 million widows around the world. 0.5% of them are child widows. The number could be higher due to under-reporting. Nearly one in ten live in extreme poverty. 78% of the widowed population are women. Grater longevity and difference in the age between wife and husband are some factors reflected in the imbalanced gender ratio among the widowed. One in 10 women of marital age is widowed. It is one in five in Afghanistan and Ukraine. Armed conflicts lead to deaths, and if a married person dies, it results in the spouse becoming a widow, and the family faces challenges. In countries like Congo, as many as 50% of women are widows. One in three widows worldwide lives in India or China. Recent data indicates that India has become the country with the highest number of widows, surpassing China.
The sudden loss of a spouse can be devastating, leading to widowhood. The widowhood effect is a phenomenon in which older people who have lost a spouse have an increased risk of dying themselves. Research suggests that this risk is highest during the first three months following the death of a spouse. The sudden loss of a spouse impacts men more as they lose their primary source of social support.
Men should think twice before making widowhood woman’s only path to power.
Gloria Steinem
What can we do?
Be empathetic and understand. Enhance awareness, advocacy, social support, and empowerment, and push governments to implement policy reform. It is the need of the times more than ever. Â Â
Toons: Reema and Anusha
Logs: M Sai Baba
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