Widowhood Practices as a Form of Gender-Based Violence in Nigeria: Insights from Selected Communities in Osun State

Abstract

This study addressed harmful widowhood practices as a form of violence against women in Osun State, Nigeria. Despite the enactment of the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act (VAPPA), cultural resistance to its implementation is entrenched in a patriarchal system. Using qualitative empirical data from interviews and focus group discussions (FGD), the study is significant to public discourse on the widowhood rite as a form of GBV, particularly with respect to cultural and human rights considerations. Using three theoretical framings of the feminist, social norms and human rights, the paper calls for urgent interventions by the necessary stakeholders to campaign at the community level to protect the widows. This paper provides a unique foundation for scholars, activists, journalists, and researchers to deliver effective interventions that address critical aspects of gender inequality in Nigeria. This study amplified the voices of widows whose pains have been spiritualised into silence. It called upon communities to confront the lethal consequences of their rituals and to recognise that a weaponised tradition against the vulnerable ceases to be a heritage. In doing so, this study offers not only a critique but also an intervention, an invitation to transform culture into a space of healing, justice, and renewal.