By Liapeng Raliengoane
GHANA – Across Africa, the impact of marital death and divorce falls more heavily on women, who may be excluded socially and lose their home and property after their marriage ends.
The Director of Research at the World Bank Asli Demirguc-Kunt said “In the face of divorce or widowhood, women often struggle with serious economic hardships. Unfortunately, designing effective policies to prevent these women from falling into poverty is hamstrung by sparse data and research.”
In an Interview with the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Founder of Perfect
Relief Foundation based in Ghana, Joelene Anom Clottey, women frequently inherit nothing when their marriage ends and official legal systems offer little recourse while some may even lose their children to the husband’s lineage.
Clottey said broader patterns of gender inequality add to the heavy burden on women’s shoulders, they are shut out of labor markets, have fewer productive assets, and bear greater responsibility for the care of children and the elderly.
“Just as widows are often hidden from view in their own communities, the absence of data limits broader public awareness of the issue. Quantifying the prevalence of widowhood and divorce requires information on both current widows and divorcees as well as the marital history of currently married women, and this is only available in 20 countries,” she highlighted.
“The numbers show that brief marriages are a fact of life for many. Women tend to get married at a young age to much older men and men are more likely to die in work-related accidents or in conflict. Many also succumb to HIV/AIDS. In addition, men who lose a spouse are much more likely to remarry than women, in part because of polygamy which is legal in 25 countries,” Clottey further disclosed.
“The options open to widows and divorcees after a marital dissolution vary greatly based on age, ethnicity, and social norms, but are often limited. In some regions, young widows are encouraged to remarry. Levirate marriage—a tradition in which a widow marries a relative of the deceased husband—provides a modest safety net, but the remarried widow often occupies an inferior position in the new household. In Ghana, for example, levirate marriage is associated with the lowest consumption levels for previously widowed women. These marriages can act as a poverty trap for those who cannot refuse due to a lack of means. In other settings, widows and divorcees may be shunned, ostracized, and dispossessed.”
“Research in Ghana shows that the children of widowed mothers have worse health and are less likely to be enrolled in school. In areas where customary rights do not support land inheritance for widows, married couples make fewer productive investments in their land. Where widows and divorcees suffer, society at large suffers as well,” Mrs Clottey concluded.
The World Bank’s Lead Economist Bénédicte de la Brière pointed out that in many settings, working with the affected women solves one part of the problem, but there also needs to be broader engagement with the community at large, and especially those in power.”
According to Marital shocks and women’s welfare in Africa Research conducted for the World Bank by Dominique Van De Walle: The right policy measures could shield widows and divorcees from the threat of poverty. Given the variety of countries, institutions, and legal systems covered in the research, no single policy formula applies across the board. Rather, policymakers will have to stitch together policies to fit their specific circumstances.
Policies that address systemic inequalities can enable women to support themselves in the face of marital dissolution. These include reforms to credit markets, where women are particularly disadvantaged; ensuring equal ownership and inheritance rights for women; and securing customary marriages through registration and legal documentation.
Responsive policies can buoy widows and divorcees after a marriage ends. A widow’s pension can serve as a temporary safety net, as long as the benefits are transferred directly and securely to widows.
Preferential access to housing and shelters is another measure that could help widows and divorcees in the event of marital dissolution.
But van de Walle cautioned that research on the effectiveness of these policies is limited. The fate of widows and divorcees may depend on the willingness of African countries to invest in their most vulnerable people by evaluating whether these policy options notably improve the financial stability and social standing of their widows, divorcees, and their families.
Perfect Relief Foundation International (PRFI) is a Non-Governmental Organization based in Ghana, that offers a wide variety of health and support related services through its operations to widows and orphans.
Its objectives and aims are to promote the welfare and economic empowerment of disadvantaged widows and education of their children. It offers services such as creativity space for children, health screenings and relief, food items and toiletries sharing, advocacy approach and capacity building. It has a dream of facilitating in all African countries as it is looking at ways to bridge the gap and create a platform for the voices of widows to be heard and acted upon.
#Director of Research at the World Bank
