To become a widow is to experience profound personal tragedy. Tragically, for many of India’s widows, the pain of such a loss and the grief that ensues lays the foundation for continued hardship - for a life marked by stigmatisation, dehumanisation, loneliness, and despair. Widowed women populate India in significant numbers. “There are at least 55 million widows in India, probably more,” reports a Hindu Business Line article published in October 2017 (and updated the following January). “That is around the same as the entire population of countries like South Africa and Tanzania, more than all the people in South Korea or Myanmar.” June 23rd marks International Widows’ Day - and the United Nations outlines just how fraught the life of a widow can be. “There are an estimated 258 million widows around the world, and nearly one in ten live in extreme poverty,” it notes. The observance of International Widows’ Day presents “an opportunity for action towards achieving full rights … Read Full Article about The invisible plight of India’s widows
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