A bill seeking to put an end to degrading widowhood practices in Nigeria scaled second reading at the House of Representatives on Thursday.
The bill seeks to amend the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act.
It seeks to prohibit all forms of repressive and degrading widowhood practices, provide remedies for victims and penalize offenders.
The legislation is sponsored by Sergius Ogun (PDP, Edo) and Adejoro Adeogun (APC, Ondo).
Leading the debate, Mr Adeogun said some major objectives of the bill are to define what constitutes harmful and degrading widowhood practices, the rights of widows under the Act, prescribe penalties for infractions against the Act and reserve the 23rd day of May of every year as a National Day for the Prohibition of Discrimination Against Widows, Women and Girls – to help bring the problem of discrimination against widows to national attention
The lawmaker said while death is inevitable, widows in some parts of Nigeria are made to pay heavy penalties for the painful departure of husbands that they loved and shared their lives with.
He said, “They are stigmatized, denied access to properties and in some cases denied access to their own children for reasons that have no place under any Nigerian law.
“Widowhood is not by choice. So why does our society criminalize the unfortunate incident of widowhood? Why are widows denied the right to mourn in peace? Why is the trauma of their loss met with more trauma rather than solace?”
He added that when passed, the bill would be recorded in history as one of the most important legislation passed by the ninth assembly.