Empowerment and Rights-Based Social Work Interventions for Widows in Zimbabwe: A Literature Review

Misheck Dube

doi:10.5539/gjhs.v11n6p94

Abstract

Due to the patriarchal and oppressive nature of the communities, Zimbabwean widows need interventions through empowerment and rights-based approaches. This article argues that those in rural area such as Binga District are more prone to oppression and widowhood has a greater impact on them as they lack the necessary resources coupled with lack of prioritisation in professional interventions. With the aim of refocusing social work interventions on empowerment and rights of widows, the article reviews literature from various sources to discuss how social work may intervene. Literature is reviewed thematically to give structure and to ensure focus on relevant discussion points. This revealed the current perspectives on widowhood elucidating on the loopholes existing within these perspectives suggesting that a more comprehensive and context specific understanding of widowhood is needed especially taking into account the young generation of widows in Zimbabwe that needs empowerment and rights-based intervention approaches. This paper has shown that such social work interventions are possible as it is a professional and ethical requisite to intervene where people are marginalised and oppressed in an endeavor to restore their worth and dignity.

Highlights

The phenomenon of widowhood is not new both locally in Binga District in Zimbabwe and globally
This article argues that those in rural area such as Binga District are more prone to oppression and widowhood has a greater impact on them as they lack the necessary resources coupled with lack of prioritisation in professional interventions
Aim of the Study This paper aims at generating debates on the lack of empowerment and rights-based social work interventions of the oppressed widows in Binga District in Zimbabwe

Summary

Introduction

The phenomenon of widowhood is not new both locally in Binga District in Zimbabwe and globally. Governments of many African nations including the Zimbabwean government, have ratified international conventions, such as the Convention on the Elimination of All forms of Discrimination Against Women of 1979 and the Beijing Platform of Action of 1995 and the Maputo Protocol and have put legal frameworks, usually fragmented and less enforced, in place to protect the rights of women in general yet little has been achieved protecting the rights of widows. This denotes the extent to which the phenomenon deserves attention as a problem. According to Widows for Widows (2011), there are approximately “245 million widows in the world with 115 million living in extreme poverty.” Due to the hardships experienced by widows, the UN, on 23rd of June 2011, officially declared 23rd June an International Widows’ Day (p.5)

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