It also sought to find out why widowhood rites persist in spite of ghana being a. These are nations located in the eastern region of modern day ghana. Effects of widowhood rites on the psychosocial wellbeing of women in nadowli district upperwest regionghana. Widowhood practices of the gbi practices in the igbo societies of nigeria, the practice of widowhood rites in the gbiduk. The ewe speaking people of west africa inhabit the areas between the river volta in modern ghana and the river mono on the western borders of the ancient kingdom of benin dahomey see map 1. Wicked widowhood practices that must be abolished in. The present study was conducted to find out the effect of widowhood rites on the psychosocial wellbeing of widows in nadowli district of the upper west region ghana. Women who undergo such rites are subjected to mental, physical, and emotional torture, accused of killing their husbands, and most of the times stripped naked and humiliated at the market square. They vary greatly according to religions, ethnicities and tribe affiliation, but as a common feature they include degrading, humiliating, discriminating and inhumane practices. This is one of the most archaic and barbaric cultural practices still performed in certain places around the world. Jul 12, 2006 although sources did not specify whether the following widowhood rites apply to the akan people, this additional information regarding widowhood rites in ghana is of interest. The ekiti ethnic group is one of the yorubaspeaking tribes.
The institution of widowhood was well organized and inherent. Although this situ ation exists in almost all parts, it is particularly prevalen t in the rural communities. The gadangmes are one ethnic group that lives primarily in the greater accra of ghana. Section six is the data presentation which includes data analysis and discussion of findings and the last section concludes the study. Pdf ghanaian akan womens experiences of widowhood and. Ghanaian widows are routinely accused by the community of having caused the death of their husband, or even of literally. The effects of widowhood on physical and mental health. These widows find themselves in 75 different ethnic groups, most of which discriminate against widows. Widowhood practices of the gbi northern ewe of ghana a.
Ghanaian youth challenged to stand against widowhood rites. In igbo society, women either married, unmarried or widowed are being tossed up and down. The department of international environment and development. This paper, therefore, investigated widowhood practices among the gbiewes of northern volta region in ghana, so as to ascertain whether these rites and practices are only targeted at dehumanising and oppressing african womanhood, or in spite of its criminalisation in recent times, it still has certain embedded cultural values that ensure the. Widowhood can be defined as the status of an individual who was legally married to someone who subsequently died. The impact of widowhood rite on the ghanaian woman in the new. There are 823,562 widowed persons in ghana out of a population of about 24,000,000. Across different cultures and traditions in ssa, widows are subject to a wide range of plights and reprehensible oppression following the death of a spouse. The observance of widowhood rites has been with the akans for a very long time. There are several limitations in this body of literature to note. The impact of widowhood rite on the ghanaian woman in the. Ghana needs to help its widows and widowers grow in self confidence and lead normal lives. Indepth interviews conducted in twi with 20 widows, five from each site, focused on womens experiences of widowhood.
In africa, widows go through a lot of hardship that stems from the society, the husbands family and from tradition. The widow was given a pair of split calabash in which she was to eat and drink from and was not to. Widowhood presents a myriad of economic, social and psychological problems, particularly in the first year or so after the death of the spouse. Pdf effects of widowhood rites on the psychosocial well. African traditional widowhood rites and their benefits and. Augustine abbey, also known as idikoko, is a ghanaian actor and movie maker known for comedy. The ugandan experience submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the llm degree in human. This article discusses the plight and suffering of widows in terms of their social, economic, psychological and human rights violations in three west african societies. He played for hearts of oak in ghana, except for the 199495 season at sportul studen. Assistant professor lucky eboh and thomas boye from the university of makerere in ghana in an article titled widowhood in african society and its effects on womens health tackled at length the oppressive and humiliating practices women face as a result of the death of their husbands. The study was conducted in the cape coast metropolis in the central region of ghana. Pdf outmoded cultural practices and its effects on. After the child naming ceremony, puberty rites are the next set of rituals of social status transformation which children undergo in ghanaian culture. Widowhood rites still rife in northern regions modern ghana.
Eighty six percent 86% of these are women, which means there are over 700,000 widows statsghana. This paper, therefore, investigated widowhood practices among the gbiewes of northern volta region in. Nigerian widow, in the course of fulfilling funeral rites, is subjected to a greater agony than the grief of the loss of her husband. T he study generally examined three aspects of the well being of the widows viz psychological, economic and social of widows mainly as a result of the ordeal they go through. She called on ghana and africa to support widows and widowers who suffer from economic hardships, the difficulties of single parenthood and loneliness. First, widowed status is often combined with divorced and separated status, making it difficult to determine the independent effects of widowhood. To be supplied and extends from the atlantic coast inland up to about latitude 7. Effects of widowhood rites on the psychosocial wellbeing. Each culture determines the rationality of practices relating to widowhood and mourning rites the igbo of southeastern nigeria have differing practices relating to widowhood and widow inheritance.
Ancestorhood was to be achieved only if all the norms associated to widowhood were rigidly respected ohale 2009. Ghana is a constitutional democracy with a strong presidency and a unicameral 275seat parliament. It is not merely that they have lost their husbands, the main breadwinner and supporter of their children, but widowhood robs. The aim of the study is to identify the churches role in demystifying widowhood and equipping widows to cope effectively with challenges of widowhood. The practice of widowhood rites according to some ghanaian traditions is linked to the. Presidential and parliamentary elections conducted in 2016. Ghanaian akan womens experiences of widowhood and property. The evidence relating widowhood to poor health status and negative health behaviors is inconsistent. Although sources did not specify whether the following widowhood rites apply to the akan people, this additional information regarding widowhood rites in ghana is of interest.
Widows are found in every community but in africa, the experience of the widow is such that women dread to be widows. Some of these rites include cruel and degrading treatment. Widowhood practices cross borders, please dont think it only happens in nigeria or just africa for the matter. Pdf effects of widowhood rites on the psychosocial wellbeing. Ghana, the succession amended act, uganda, the administrator generals act, cap 140, uganda, to mention a few. Widowhood rites and food taboos have been identified as two cultural and traditional practices on the increase in the asutifi district in the brong ahafo region. A major problem for both sexes is economic hardship. Widowhood rites performed by the akan people, particularly for chiefs and subchiefs. Widowhood rituals and widow inheritance in the balikumbat. Widowhood rituals were ways to uphold justice and vengeance of the death of a spouse. The rite of mourning the demise of a husband in nigeria has for a very long time been taken to the extreme by the relatives of the dearly departed either because they have plans of punishing the grieving widow or for other reasons best known to themselves. Wicked widowhood practices that must be abolished in nigeria.
May 25, 2018 the ghana news agency gna was established on march 5, 1957, i. Ethnic ga family names surnames such as lartey, nortey, aryee, poku, lamptey, tetteh, ankrah, tetteyfio, laryea. In many parts of africa, tribal marks often lead to tribalism. Ghanaian akan womens experiences of widowhood and property rights. He was also capped for ghana, and was a squad member in the 1992 african cup of nations and the 1997 korea cup. These include violations of their property rights, coercive subjection to the observance of customarily genderedthe observance of customarily genderedconstructed ritesritesofofpassage widowhood rites passage widowhood rites kunadiekunadie. The issue of widowhood rites, which has been described as one of the most dehumanising, uncivilised and negative cultural practices in the world, due to its associated violation of the rights of women, is still rife in some parts of the three northern regions of ghana. The widows and orphans ministry wom was founded in 1993 by betty ayagiba or ayageba public agenda 19 june 2006. It also sought to find out why widowhood rites persist in spite of ghana being a signatory to many human rights instruments.
Widowhood practices of the gbi northern ewe of ghana. To achieve these aims, i relied largely from the materials on isiokpoikwerre widowhood rites. These practices are dehumanizing, degrading, barbaric obnoxious, anachronistic and grossly immoral. Widowhood practices of the gbi northern ewe of ghana african. T1 ghanaian akan womens experiences of widowhood and property rights violations. The word akyum is used to describe a group of three states. Pdf outmoded cultural practices and its effects on victims. Effects of widowhood rites on the psychosocial wellbeing of women in nadowli district upperwest regionghana article pdf available january 2014 with 5,082 reads how we measure reads. Widowhood practices and impacts on women in subsaharan. Thirteen women described property rights violations occurring when they were vulnerable due to bereavement andor widowhood rites, and resulting in longterm economic challenges for them and their children. In many traditional communities of developing countries especially in africa, widowhood represents a social death for women. Introduction this is a study about the encounters between christianity and the african traditional religions atr in fante funeral practices. The harmful nature of these widowhood practices on the woman as an individual with rights is the focus of this paper. Widowhood rituals and widow inheritance in the balikumbat, cameroon international journal of history and cultural studies ijhcs page 57 made a woman the property of the husband and had the prerogative to be inherited by her deceased husbands king rates.
African traditional widowhood rites and their benefits andor. The rite of mourning the demise of a husband in nigeria has for a very long time been taken to the extreme by the relatives of the dearly departed either because they have plans of punishing the. The article widowhood in african society and its effects on womans health is focused on the practices that are oppressive and humiliating to women as a result of the death of the husband. The present study was conducted to find out the effect of widowhood rites on the psychosocial well being of widows in nadowli district of the upper west region ghana. Ghana, the succession amended act, uganda, the administrator generals act, cap 140, uganda, to. The widowhood rites and practices are found in many parts of nigeria, including anambra, imo, abia, enugu and ebonyi states. Funerals are a major tradition among the fantes in ghana, and it has been studied by both ethnographers and theologians. Witchcraft, widowhood rites and female genital mutilation fgm have been identified as top three. Some african widowhood rites in the phokwane area this section describes some of the widowhood rites in the phokwane area of limpopo. The study generally examined three aspects of the wellbeing. A typical example of this is in the northern part of ghana where tribal marks have often resulted in tribalism. During bereavement periods, 10 of the 20 participants 3 moslems and 7 christians observed the and 7 christians observed the akanakan cultural ritescultural ritesofofpassage widow passage widow. Widowhood in african society and its effects on womens health. When the husband was the principal breadwinner, his widow is now deprived of his income and the nucleus of the family is destroyed fasoranti et al.
The widowhood ritual safeguarded and guaranteed the entrance and acceptance of the deceased spouse into the world of the ancestors. Ghanaian akan womens experiences of widowhood and property rights violations. The ghana news agency gna was established on march 5, 1957, i. The description is based on research conducted by pauw, published in 1990, and. The ga and dangbe people are grouped respectively as part of the gadangme ethnolinguistic group. The most prevalent widowhood rites included a oneyear period of mourning, tying ropes and padlocks around the widows waist or neck, forced sitting by the deceased spouse until burial, solitary confinement, forced starvation, shaving the widows hair, and smearing clay on the widows body. Widowhood practices in subsaharan africa ssa have been detrimental to womens general wellbeing and as such considered a serious social problem. The following are a few african widowhood rites and practices in a few african contexts. The plight of widowhood in africa the times group malawi. Traditional widowhood rites are a widespread phenomenon in cameroon.
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