Widowhood rites: A threat to the actualisation of women’s rights in Nigeria

Abstract

A widowhood rite is a traditional practice in several Nigerian communities today but with a few observed nuances. As one of those rites that is characterised by compulsion, threat, emotional, sexual and physical violation of victims, the practice appears to be in outright defiance to fundamental human rights of women as enshrined in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the United Nations treaty and other legal instruments of international emphasising to which Nigeria is a signatory. This article examined the features of widowhood traditional practice as operational in the south eastern, south western, south southern, and Northern Nigeria; and by so doing brought out salient components that undermine full expression of women’s rights under the practices of widowhood. The Deviant place theory as well as the Routine activity theory were deployed as a framework. The study found out that poverty on the part of men and women, ignorance, illiteracy, culture, greed on some men’s part and low status of women are some of the mostly reckoned enablers of widowhood rite practice. Based on these findings, the study recommends that government should initiate or at least support significantly researches on widowhood practices in the country. Other recommendations include, creation of intense awareness campaign, activation of vicarious liability, women empowerment particularly at the local level, exploration of educational curriculum channel and government sponsorship as relevant measures to ending the widowhood rites practice in the study area.