Anambra Women Protest Against Tradition Of Forcing Widows To Drink Water Washed Off Their Dead Husbands…

A group of women in Anambra State on Thursday staged a peaceful protest against the “barbaric” and “unwholesome” practice of forcing widows to drink the water used in washing the corpse of their late husbands.

The protesters made reference to incidents in Atani community in the Ogbaru Local Government Area of the state.

The women rights activists who gathered at the Anambra State Children, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence Court in Awka, the state capital, displayed placards with various messages including “Stop violence against women and girls in Anambra State”, “Ogbaru men and women, allow our widows some peace,” and “Stop all obnoxious laws and harmful widowhood practices in Anambra State.”

The Chairperson of Violence Against Persons Prohibition in the state, Hope Okoye, who addressed journalists during the protest, described the peaceful protest as a way to make their voices heard.

Okoye also described the protest as a clarion call on communities in Ogbaru and any other parts of the state to review existing obnoxious and barbaric traditions and get rid of all harmful practices against women and widows.

She called on the administration of Governor Charles Soludo, through the state’s Children, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence Court, to protect women and widows in the state and ensure that perpetrators of harmful practices in the state are brought to justice.