Tanzania: Urging Action on Older Women's Rights

 
Many older Tanzanian women live in
poverty © SXC

HelpAge International, the global network striving for the rights of disadvantaged older people, has submitted evidence to the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) to highlight violations of older women’s rights in Tanzania and make recommendations for government action.

The Convention, which forms part of international human rights law, was ratified by Tanzania in 1985 and the Tanzanian Government is under legal obligation to implement its provisions to end discrimination against women.

HelpAge International’s submission, which has been endorsed by 12 Tanzanian organizations working on older women’s rights, includes evidence and recommendations for government action in three areas: gender-based violence against older women, rights to property and inheritance, and access to healthcare for older women carers of people living with HIV and AIDS.

Older women’s experience of ageing in Tanzania is markedly different from that of older men. They are less likely to remarry after the death of a partner, and as widows have a considerably lower status in society. Widows are also denied the right to inherit common assets such as a house or land, condemning many older women to live in poverty. Low levels of literacy contribute to a lack of knowledge of legal rights.

In its submission to CEDAW, HelpAge International is calling for the Tanzanian Government to issue a policy statement which commits District Councils to introduce measures that challenge and address violence related to witchcraft accusations. These accusations can lead to violence, psychological abuse and intimidation, banishment from homes and communities, isolation, and in extreme cases, murder.

HelpAge International and its partners in Tanzania have shown that interventions such as offering older women paralegal advice and engaging with local government, traditional healers - who can play a key role in accusing older women of witchcraft - and local militias who are sometimes paid to carry out the attacks, can reduce killings in some communities by as much as 90 per cent.

REHACARE.de; Source: HelpAge International

- More about HelpAge International at: www.helpage.org

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