The situation of widows in East and Southern Africa

A recent report from UNAIDS suggests that the world could meet its target of ending AIDS as a public-health threat by 2030 if leaders commit to safeguarding the human rights of those living with HIV and those most at risk.

However, on World AIDS Day, when the world pauses to celebrate and assess its efforts to end the pandemic, we are reminded that for widows, especially those in East and Southern Africa where the pandemic is most acute, harmful social and traditional practices not only perpetuate their marginalisation but make them vulnerable to HIV/AIDS.

A 2023 study conducted by researchers at universities in California and Kenya highlights the scale of the issue: widowed women make up to 40% of the 12 million women living with HIV in Eastern and Southern Africa – up to 4 million women. Furthermore, widowed women were found to be more likely to be infected with HIV in comparison to women who have never been married.

Many would have contracted the virus from their deceased spouses while others are exposed after becoming widowed. Regardless, socially and culturally mandated violence against widows, especially where poverty prevails and healthcare is inaccessible, is driving HIV infections among widows of all ages.

Where violence against widows meets HIV

Widows in many parts of the world still face physical, social and economic violence because their husbands have died. The Global Fund for Widows (GFW) highlights three forms of violation of widows' human rights: disinheritance, discrimination and harmful traditional practices.

Though not universal, sex-related widowhood rites have been recorded across many cultures in Sub-Saharan Africa. Such rites have been documented in Ghana, Senegal, Nigeria and Sudan among other countries. In South Africa, Kenya and Tanzania, for instance, widowhood rituals may include “cleansing ceremonies” that involve sex with designated relatives or strangers.

Among the Maasai, levirate or widow inheritance and forced marriage is still practiced.

“After my husband deceased brother of my husband wanted to inherit me, and I said no I cannot be inherited and that was the beginning of trouble. My property was taken away without knowing what to do.” Said Aisha Iddy, a participant in GFW legal right training session in Monduli, Tanzania in October 2024.

Concurrently, Sub-Saharan Africa accounts for the largest number of people living with HIV, with more than 25.9 million people of the 39.9 million living with HIV globally recorded in 2022. Where these rituals and high HIV prevalence overlap, widows exhibit an exceptionally high prevalence: if not already infected, they may acquire it as they adopt high risk strategies to survive and as they exposed to sexual violence due to isolation and lack of social protection.

Poverty, widows and HIV

According to the World Bank, fewer than 47% of widows report inheriting any assets in sub-Saharan African regions. Widows, particularly in rural communities, find themselves ensnared in poverty, their assets and income stripped away by disinheritance and discriminatory practices. The prevalence of child marriage leaves many without formal education, compounding their vulnerability and narrowing the already scarce opportunities for legal and economic independence - for themselves and for the children who depend on them.

GFW, for instance, works with widows living in poverty as a result of harmful traditional norms over 50% of widows of whom are under 39. They are invariably mothers to young children. In Kenya, GFW found that 72% of the widows wishing to join its programmes were victims of property grabbing and had been removed from their home or land and forbidden access to their bank accounts. They had an average monthly income of US$28 per month in households with an average of 5 children.

Survival strategies that contribute to the spread of HIV:

Widows are subject to gender-based violence not just as women, but also as widows and moreover as HIV positive widows. Widows living with HIV experience discrimination, stigma and other human rights violations from their families and communities, by legal and social services, in healthcare settings and in their work environment. These barriers compound the difficulties of managing their health and providing for themselves and their families and contributes to the spread of HIV.

In 2012, the World Health Organisation asserted that many widows living with HIV are forced to adopt “survival strategies that increase their chances of contracting and spreading HIV” for instance, transactional sex.

In East and Southern Africa, many turn to transactional sex to secure basic necessities such as food, shelter and education for their children. It is well known and has been reiterated by UNAIDS, that women who engage in transactional sex often lack the power to negotiate safer practices, placing them at a heightened risk of HIV infection. In addition, it’s also been documented in studies from South Africa and Kenya that sex workers engage in high risk behaviour such as dry sex and anal sex (which demand a higher price) which further increase their risk.

Furthermore, widows may be excluded from economic opportunities due to a lack of education and systemic discrimination. Limited access to social safety nets forces many widows into exploitative informal labour relationships, which also increases their vulnerability to HIV as they are more likely to encounter situations where they are coerced or manipulated into unsafe sexual practices

Isolation and a lack of safety that leads to vulnerability to HIV

With little control over their own livelihoods, widows may be forced into unsafe living or working conditions or migration patterns that expose them to HIV. Many widows are left with no choice but to endure dangerous environments, leading to further health risks including HIV infection.

Widows working in remote areas, for example in charcoal production, may be at risk of sexual violence and exploitation due to their isolation.

“When my husband passed away, the family elected a supervisor, but he ended up taking advantage of and benefiting from our properties. When I reported this to the traditional leader, they all sided with the man and considered me disrespectful. I have to keep quiet and find an alternative way of serving my children by cutting charcoal,” said Nangai, a widow in Monduli, Tanzania in October 2024.

Why these harmful practices persist

The persistence of harmful practices against widows in engrained in traditions and patriarchal systems that shape social attitudes even in the face of HIV.

Nanyori, a Maasai widow told GFW in October 2023, "Many of us here have experienced violence such as FGM, forced marriages and child labour in the name of tradition, and unfortunately, we continue this cycle by subjecting others, including our children, to the same.”

Such customs are rooted in superstition, where a widow’s perceived culpability in their husband's death leads to marginalisation. Those who challenge these beliefs face the threat of backlash or even violence. This entrenched culture of stigma and ostracism strips widows of the community support they desperately need.

Weak legal frameworks in many countries compound the issue, where laws designed to protect widows from exploitation are poorly enforced, if they exist at all. Moreover, widows often lack legal awareness. The situation is not helped by a growing awareness of the economic value, especially of land, of the assets a widow may be due to inherit.

Despite a growing awareness and global attention, campaigns for change are often limited in scope and may be challenged as top-down, foreign influenced or even colonialist. Furthermore, widows who share similar experiences are underrepresented in positions of influence intensifying the battle for those who are such positions.

The challenge ahead - the inclusion of widows

The UNAIDS World AIDS Day report 2024 includes an essay by Jeanne Gapiya-Niyonzima, who lost her husband to AIDS in the early 1990s and experienced the stigma, bigotry and condemnation that this article has outlined.

In Gapiya-Niyonzima’s words “protecting rights means protecting rights for everyone.”

Therefore, the challenge to end HIV/AIDS is in integrating the experiences and specific needs of widows in local and global HIV/AIDS policies and implementation.

Moreover, it’s essential that women’s access to and control over economic resources increases – for instance through entrepreneurship and access to finance – in order to ending the GBV that drives HIV.

GFW’s work is contributing to ending the spread of HIV among widows and enabling better access to healthcare for those who are living it by providing economic opportunity, legal literacy and a public forum for widows.

Acknowledging that these traditions are located within communities, GFW is exemplar of an organisation creating partnerships and coalitions at the grassroots. Among its other activities GFW organises public dialogues with community leaders to rethink patriarchal structures and build local solutions that are culturally sensitive yet progressive.

In tandem with grassroots efforts such as GFW's, there must be a greater push for strengthening legal frameworks that protect widows against local traditions.

Finally, widows must have a platform in decision-making processes, whether in legal reforms or humanitarian initiatives, to ensure that every development solution reflect their lived experiences and addresses the cause of their marginalisation.

By combining global advocacy with localised action, organisations such as GFW are helping to pave the way for a more equitable future for widows.

‍