Assessing The Infringement Of Widows Rights During Widowhood Rites Practices In Talensi And Nabdam In The Upper East Region Of Ghana
Millar Institute for Transdisciplinary and Development Studies (MITDS) / Millar Open University (MOU). Bolgatanga, Upper East Region, Ghana.
Department of Fashion Design and Textile Studies, Tamale Technical University, Ghana
Department of Social Sciences, Akatsi College of Education, Ghana
Department of Business and Social Sciences Education, University of Cape Coast
The purpose of this study was to investigate how widowhood rites practices infringe on the right of widows in contemporary times at Talensi and Nabdam. One such practice is commodification and oppression of the weak, notably widows' sexual and human rights. Participant observation, interviews, and community immersion were used. Both ethnic groups practice widowhood rites both fresh and final burials, the study found.
The study adapted ethnographic research design for the study since is the study is on the culture of widowhood rites practices of Talensi and Nabdam districts.
Inter-ethnic disparities were also discovered in the study. Notably, widowhood rites are detrimental to the health and rights of widows. Widows are denied the opportunity to exercise their rights and are instead instructed on what to do and what not to do. By forcing an inheritor on the widow, the practise encourages economic abuse of widows by denying the widow and her children the right to inherit the deceased property.
The study concluded that a rigorous examination of multiple activities is necessary to eliminate factors that violate women's rights. For instance, the right to dignity should be assessed and, where possible, amended because culture is supposed to be dynamic, and people's practises should evolve through time. To connect effectively with widows, the researcher proposes mobilising older women as change agents; clearly, in Ghana and other underdeveloped countries, women's lives are governed by customary or traditional religious standards.
Keywords: Widowhood rites Infringement Talensi Nabdam rights contemporary times
Amasiatu, I. (2009). Hope for the hopeless: A seminar paper presented on the legal rights of a widow at the 1st National Widow’s Conference by women intercessors for the church and the nations. Port Harcourt. American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy, and Law. 3(5):456-476.
Ayagiba, B. (2010). Negative Cultural Practices. A paper presented on widowhood Rites in Northern Ghana in Bolgatanga to promote culture of human rights.
Bell, D. (1991). Are Human Rights for Women, too. An Australian Case in Abdul-lahi Ahmed An-Nacim (Ed) Human Rights in Cross-Cultural Perspectives: A Quest for Consensus. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press
Coker-Appiah, D. & Foster. J. (2011) Advocacy for Better Implementation of Women’s Rights in Ghana.WiLDAF – Ghana.
Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice, (2003). Seventh Annual Report of the state on Human Rights.
Constitution of the republic of Ghana, (1992). The position of women in Ghana. Accra: Government Printer Assembly Press.
Creswell, J. W., & Poth, C. N. (2016). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches. Sage publications.
Ihekwuaba, O. N. & Amasiatu I. A. (2016). Influence of Widowhood Practices on the Psycho - Social and Physical Health of Widows in Selected States of South-Eastern, Nigeria. European Journal of Research and Reflection in Educational Sciences. Vol. 4. ISSN 2056-5852.
Mba, A. (16th November 2006). Widows Hits the street. The Ghanaian Times, p.1.
Steiner, S., Henry, J., Alston, P., Philip, H., Goodman, T. & Ryan, K. (2008). International Human Rights in Context (3rd ed). Law, Politics, Morals. London: Oxford University Press.
Tei-Ahontu, M. M. (2008). Widowhood Rites in the Ga Traditional Area of Accra – Ghana: Review of Traditional Practices against Human Rights. MA Thesis, Norwegian: University of Life Sciences.
White S., Kamanga D., Kachika T., Chweza A., & Chidyaonga F. (2002). Dispossessing the widow: Gender based violence in Malawi. Blantyre. Christian Literature Association in Malawi.
