Widowhood is a difficult road to walk, even in the "wealthy" countries like ours, but nowhere is it more difficult than in India. According to the 1991 Census, there are 33 million widows throughout India - 8 percent of the total female population and 50 percent of the female population over the age of 50. In terms of prevalence of widowhood, India ranks among the highest in the world. The deprivations faced by these millions of widows cause mortality rates to be a shocking 85 percent higher for widows than among married women.

Here are two true stories that give you a glimpse of what they often face:

"Bina was six when she was married off to a man who was 32. Her brother sold her to the bridegroom for 300 Rupees. For three years her husband beat her, locking her out of the house for days at a stretch. Then one day he died. At nine, Bina was a widow. Her brother-in-law and sister-in-law then began abusing her, beating her. They wanted to drive her out of the house: she was unlucky, they said. When she grew up, she would demand her share of the property."

"A funeral procession was about to leave for the cremation grounds. The widow sat cringing in a corner. No one would touch her. In the procession, she had to follow 200 feet behind the rest, lest her shadow fall on a married woman and she be widowed too. No one approached her all day -- even to give her water. For 13 days after the cremation she was made to sit on the ground in the same clothes. On the 13th day she was allowed to bathe and change."

India's widows no longer have to throw themselves on the pyres of their dead husbands, but many feel they are forced into poverty and a life alone. Apart from the economic problems, widows even in educated, middle class families continue to be placed under immense psychological and social pressures.

Even today widows are accused of being 'responsible' for their husband's death. They are excluded from religious and social life. They are physically and sexually abused and often robbed of their property. (In theory, 51 percent of widows have rights to a share in their husband's land, but these rights are often violated in practice by brothers-in-law.)

Widowhood is still considered a curse and seeing a widow's face early in the morning is considered a bad omen, so they find it difficult to find jobs to support themselves and their children. While all but the highest castes are allowed to remarry, they seldom do because the men that would accept a widow are usually impoverished, old, or looking for a second wife.

For the younger widows, there is a year-long sewing school that trains them in the skills they need to be self-supporting, and supplies them with a treadle sewing machine upon their graduation so they can start their own businesses.

Gifts to VillageToVillage.net are tax-deductible.

HOW CAN YOU HELP?

If you would like to correspond with Shoshana Montgomery, you can reach her at 703-444-9242
or by email at Shoshana@realitycheckpress.com