11 November 09
“Wife Inheritance: A Death Sentence Behind the Mask of Culture,” a new report produced by the Centre for Rights, Education, and Awareness (CREAW), based in Nairobi, Kenya, outlines the practice of wife inheritance particularly in relationship to the spread of HIV/AIDS and gender-based violence. The CREAW report discusses how the practice fuels violence against women and seeks to find alternative means to support widows. CREAW argues that wife inheritance is a denial of human rights, in particular “the right to sexual autonomy, the right to the enjoyment of the highest standard of sexual health, the right to property, and the right to equitable inheritance.”
The document outlines six key themes in relationship to wife inheritance. It outlines beliefs about wife inheritance and attitudes towards woman; reviews male-female relationships; explores the relationship between wife inheritance and HIV/AIDS; discusses gender rights in terms of property inheritance and decision-making opportunities; analyzes wife inheritance and economic production; and puts forth recommendations regarding how to support widows in ways that support their fundamental human rights.
Compiled from: Centre for Rights, Education, and Awareness, “Wife Inheritance: A Death Sentence Behind the Mask of Culture,” (2008). (PDF, 22 pages).