Widowhood Cleansing Rituals in Mbaukwu: Implications for Policy Makers

Abstract

Women in Africa are generally subjected to inhuman treatments as soon as they loose their male partners. They are made to undergo what many cultures had described as widowhood cleansing rituals, to enable them fit back into the society they never violated. Some of the victims are made to sleep on bare floor, to wear one cloth for the duration of the mourning, to shave their hair, segregated from the society and in some severe cases are forced to drink water used in washing the husband’s corpse to prove her to be innocent. The purpose of this study was to ascertain the level of human rights abuses perpetuated by the crusaders, level of participation and the psychological trauma the female victims underwent in Mbaukwu and some selected cultures. We interviewed twelve (12) women and six (6) men in Mbaukwu town, who were either directly or indirectly involved while thematic approach was used as information was equally gathered through secondary sources. We found among others, that most women who resisted the cleansing rituals were socially excommunicated, isolated by the community including her female friends, loss of husband’s property, mockery, slander and possibly death. Based on these findings, we recommended that government in all levels should invest in the education of the girl child, enactment of laws in accordance with the UN convention on the elimination of discrimination against women, public enlightenment and adequate punishment for offenders.