Socio-cultural rights of women and widowhood rites in Nigeria: A call for proper human rights education

Abstract

This paper examines the socio cultural rights of women and widowhood rites in some parts of Nigeria and discusses how the widows can be educated to know their human rights. Nigeria has the highest population in Africa, the population being 217,639,871, as of Tuesday, October 4, 2022, based on Worldometer elaboration of the latest United Nations data. Women worldwide including Nigerian women, continuously suffer one form of discrimination or the other, chiefly, the rural dwellers that are deep rooted in obnoxious socio cultural and religious practices. Even though Nigeria is a signatory to CEDAW and scores of several other international provisions on human rights, Conventions and Covenants and regional provisions, and has enacted a Violence Against Persons Prohibition law, it is the argument of the paper that the country is yet to implement provisions of international and domestic laws that directly address these obnoxious socio-cultural practices, especially widowhood rites. It is the finding of the paper that several factors militate against effective protection of the rights of women, widows inclusive. Thus, they are subjected to some unpleasant rites such as shaving of hair, wearing of mourning clothes, sitting on the floor, etc. It is further the finding of the paper that the customary practices are barbaric, atrocious, backward, immoral and abusive of women’s human rights. The paper concludes among others that widowhood practices amount to discriminatory, inhuman and degrading acts, with deep-rooted negative psychological and emotional effects on widows. The paper equally recommends that there is need to overhaul the Nigerian legal and social institutions, hence, the call for the enactment of a Widow Protection Act that will ban obnoxious widowhood rites with stiffer penalties in order to comply with International and Regional Conventions and Treaties ratified by Nigeria.