January 24, 2017
BBC News Africa




[image: Inline image 1]Human Rights Watch

The Zimbabwean government should stop in-laws from taking widows' homes
from them when their husbands die, says campaign group Human Rights Watch
(HRW).

In 2013, Zimbabwe adopted a new constitution that provides for equal rights
for women, including for inheritance and property.

But, HRW says in a report out today
<https://www.hrw.org/report/2017/01/24/you-will-get-nothing/violations-property-and-inheritance-rights-widows-zimbabwe>
that
in practice this laws only apply to widows in officially registered
marriages and at least 70% of rural marriages are customary, according to
UN Food and Agriculture Organization estimates.

HRW are calling for widows with customary marriages to have these rights
too.

Some of those interviewed by HRW said their in-laws simply forced them out
of their homes immediately after their husbands died.

Others said their in-laws threatened, physically intimidated, and insulted
them to make them leave. In some cases, distant relatives of the deceased
showed up years later and took over their property.








-- 
Ann Marie

"The art of living consists of knowing what to pay attention to and what to
ignore."  -- Mardy Grothe

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