Dispossessing the Widow

The dispossession of widows--commonly referred to as "property grabbing"--is one of the most prevalent and entrenched forms of violence that women experience in Malawi. This book presents findings of case-studies of Malawian women who have encountered dispossession of matrimonial property when their husbands died. It provides a theoretical framework and definitions; outlines the causes of this practice, the form it takes and its harmful economic, psychological and physical effects; and discusses the cultural, economic and legal factors that perpetrate it. The study then examines how the justice delivery system deals with the dispossession of widows as a form of gender-based violence; revealing how the present justice system, and structures of delivery fail to respond to this form of gender-based violence widely considered a violation of human rights. Women and Law in Southern Africa-Malawi is the Malawi branch of the prestigious Women and Law in Southern Africa Research Trust (WLSA). WLSA was born out of a group of women and men in southern Africa who wanted to advance the legal situation of women; and was founded in 1988 at a regional conference held in Zimbabwe by a group of lawyers and social scientists. It is regional and action-orientated and aims to improve the situation of women through advocacy and lobbying for law and policy changes. The organization works in the following southern African countries: Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Since inception WLSA has undertaken research, and published several titles on women and the law on for examples women and the administration of justice: family related issues; the changing concept of the family;and gendered African traditions, women human rights law.