One of the vulnerable groups that are still clearly burdened by cultural, traditional and religious beliefs despite efforts, is widows.
This worry bounced back into the spotlight reflections by widows and other womenfolk at the Banquet Hall of the Littoral Governor’s Office in Douala, June 23, 2014, when Cameroon joined the world to commemorate the World Widows’ Day.
National statistics shows that in 2010, most widows in Cameroon continued to be ejected from their homes, maltreated and stigmatised. In most instances, they are deprived of the right to inheritance and forced to live in precarious situations as a result.
Some suffer sexual violence justified in cultural and religious practices by their family members or forced to accept violent traditional practices like staying for a week without bathing, among others. All these are said to be violations of their rights and obstacles to their development in the world today.
Jacqueline Mouangue, a widow, referred to accusations they face such as murdering their husbands as the most nagging of all. “When our husbands are ill, there is often no family member to assist us but we see them only when they are dead, and there is a need to share property,” she disclosed.
Verdzekov Crescentia, another widow, urged government to provide self-reliant activities for widows.
She decried the fact that when a husband dies, his family members want to divide the wife and property as well as their children. Normally, she noted, if a widow had opted for joint property with her husband, there is no question of sharing the property again after his death, automatically it belongs to his widow.
“Today, we have been told that if the family refuses to sign the decision, the widow should go to the State Counsel, who will take further decision.”
Inertia in treating widowhood documents for pension at the National Social Insurance and civil acts against widows which are yet to be scraped from the law are some of the misery widows, and their children have to contend with.
While presiding over the reflections, Edie Diengou Carine, Head of the Administrative and Legal Affairs Division of the Littoral Governor’s Office called on all to fight against discrimination and violations of the rights of the widows and their children.
She reminded the women of the various measures to protect widows and children, including vocational training and the creation of associations.
