By Dickens Wasonga.
The Federation of women lawyers , FIDA is alarmed by the ever increasing cases of widows evictions by in-laws especially in Nyanza and Western Kenya regions.
Speaking during a one day media forum at a Kisumu hotel , Mary Frances Lukera, a senior program officer, FIDA Kenya said over 150 such cases have been filed by the organization in the local courts in just a period of two months.
The FIDA official said they were worried that despite the successful completion of widow eviction cases in the courts, most of whose judgements favored the widows, the trend was not going down in these two regions.
She said the worst hit areas includes Kisii, Siaya, Vihiga and Kakamega where she alleged Chiefs and their assistants were allegedly colluding with some of the in-laws to deny widows and orphans the right to inherit properties left behind when a husband dies.
FIDA Kisumu office has established that most of the cases were as a result of attempts by the relatives of the deceased persons to have widows forcefully inherited.
Lukera noted that most women who refuse to be inherited as demanded by their in-laws remains with no option but to leave.
” Majority of them move to urban centers with their children and without a job to help them raise their families many turn to prostitution which makes them more vulnerable to contracting HIV/AIDS” she said.
From the past such incidents, the official stated that amongst those who are often likely to be chased away by their in laws are childless widows or those who are from a different ethnic community other than that of their spouses.
Those who have girls only or are jobless at the time of death of their husbands are also prone to widow eviction, a form of violation which they described as the worst nightmare for the widows.
The organization is however conducting awareness creation against the practice and so far several workshops and seminars have been held through- out the two regions.
” We are involving the council of elders in these workshops and during our civic education campaigns targeting to reduce incidences of widow evictions and other forms of violation of women rights in Nyanza and Western Kenya.” said Lukera.
She clarified that apart from using the courts to settle family disputes , FIDA has also been instrumental in mediation processes where there is a problem adding the organization is not only about seeking divorce as perceived by most men in the country.
The one day seminar which brought together several Kisumu based journalists from both the electronic and print media was meant to discuss how to report gender based violence objectively and was organized by FIDA Kenya.
ENDS.