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 ################################################################################################# Join the African Association of Madison, Inc. for $25 per year. Mail check to: AAM, PO Box 1016, Madison, WI 53701 Phone: 608-258-0261 Email: [log in to unmask] Web: www.AfricanAssociationofMadison.org ################################################################################################# *** Send email to the list: [log in to unmask] *** *** Access AAM list archives: http://listserv.icors.org/archives/AAM.html ***