Widows in the World and in Armenia

t has been nine years since the UN decision to mark June 23 as a day of widowhood. It aims to draw public attention to the problems facing widows in different parts of the world.

The UN intends to achieve full recognition of their rights and improve their social and economic situation. According to the United Nations, today there are about 285 million widows in the world, and every tenth is living in extreme poverty lines.

According to 2010, 14.6 percent of women aged 55-59 are widows, but this does not reflect the full picture. For comparison, 15 percent of women in this age group are widows, 2.3 percent of men who lost their wives.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that in many countries around the world widows are facing discrimination, and in many cases the cruel treatment of them is a religious or cultural norm, and offenders remain unpunished.

“In many countries, the social status of women depends on the status of her husband, and in the case of his death, his wife is deprived of her protection. Widows often get out of their own home, subjecting them to physical abuse. In order for a widow to regain her status, she often has to marry one of her husband’s relatives, often in contrast to her own will. In many African and Asian countries, widows become victims of physical, psychological, and sexual violence. The reason for such ill-treatment is often the inheritance-related disputes and property-related rights. In traditional societies, widows have neither the inheritance nor the property rights, nor are they restricted. After the death of the couple, they remain without a roof, “said the UN Secretary-General.

In many lands, widows have to deal with humiliating and dangerous work-for example, according to the UN official page, they are forced to drink the water in which they are bathing the deceased, and in some lands they are considered cursed. For example, according to one study conducted in Tanzania, hundreds of women, mostly widows, were killed in that country for sorcery.

The UN urges governments to take action to protect the rights of widows that comply with human rights, international norms, in particular the requirements of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.

According to the marital status of the population of Armenia, the most recent data on the 2011 population is: In an interview with WomenNet.am, Karine Kuyumjyan, head of the Census and Demography Division of the National Statistical Service, noted that information on the widows is updated from census to census. Let’s remind that the next will be held in 2021. Before that, refer to previous data.

There are also many problems with widows in Armenia. In our country, according to the 2011 census, 8.9 percent of the population or 218,584 citizens are widows or men without women. Of these, 36371 are men and women make 182, 213.