Widows, land and power

Widows in Zimbabwe are routinely evicted from their homes and land, and their property is stolen by in-laws when their husbands die. Deborah, a 58-year-old widow in Zimbabwe, said that after her husband died, her in-laws harassed and threatened her. They wanted her home and the land she had cultivated for four decades. Deborah said her brother-in-law had “taken all of my fields and even tilled my yard [to plant crops] up to my doorstep. Now, he says that I cannot walk on ‘his’ fields. He says that I do not belong there. I reported this to the village headman, but he just tells us to live in peace.”…

© Human Rights Watch - lundi 19 mars 2018