New Vision (Kampala) - December 30, 2003
Alice Emasu

She was eight- month- old pregnant then. Close sources say Susan was forced out of primary six to marry the deceased, who had been retired from work due to his poor health.

Sources argue that although Susan's parents knew the deceased had AIDS, they concealed the information from her after they had received 12 cows from him as bride price.

Susan, a food vendor in Ndeeba, a Kampala suburb, is today in tears mainly because of the mistreatment, stigmatisation and rejection especially by her in-laws. She is being blamed for the death of her husband.

Worse still, Susan's in-laws took away her baby.

Juliet, 27, a widow with four children is another victim of stigmatisation. When her husband died two years ago, her parent's in-law forced her out of their home. They also grabbed the land, including the banana and coffee plantation they had given them at the time of their marriage.

Juliet is today renting a house in Makerere Kivulu, another suburb of Kampala. Before her husband died, the couple was renting an enclosed self-contained three-bedroomed house. Juliet's relationship with her in-laws turned sour to the extent that even when she is hospitalised, none of them visits her.

Susan and Juliet are among thousands of HIV-positive widows with real life experiences and challenges related to lack of women's ownership of property including land and housing.

A recent study conducted by the Eastern Africa Sub-regional Support Initiative for the Advancement of Women (EASSI) shows that many HIV-positive widows in the country suffer from stigmatisation and rejection especially from their in laws.

The study points out lack of adequate housing, access to land use, good nutrition, income and care whenever they fall very sick, as the major challenges faced by most HIV/AIDS- positive widows.

According to the study, most widows mainly between 18-30 years lost their husbands before they built homes in their villages.

"Poor housing is a common problem for HIV-positive women both in the rural and urban areas. Most of the women who lost their husbands to AIDS do not have appropriate housing and land for cultivation," quotes the study.

"Some HIV positive widows live in shanties with inappropriate sanitation, which exposes them to additional health problems."

"The health hazards that are associated with poor housing are serious threats to the lives of many HIV positive women but worse still, poor housing poses problems for the children after the mothers have died."

According to the study, unlike most of their colleagues in the rural areas who have access to land on which to cultivate, the urban widows have been left to bear the brunt of raising money for renting, building and constructing pit latrines.

The study indicates that whereas some of them fear to return to their marital villages because they do not have land and homes, both their in-laws and parents have openly rejected them.

It points out that many HIV positive widows in the urban areas where the families have to buy all the food they need, are subjected to poor nutrition due to lack of support from the extended family and community members to ensure sufficient food for the family.

The study further says most HIV positive widows assume full responsibility of fending for their families as soon as their husbands die. As they become weaker, they fail to work, which puts their households in jeopardy.

Maude Mugisha, the coordinator of EASI, says most HIV positive widows said they were more worried about the accommodation, education and general well-being of their children.

She says high cost of treatment of HIV opportunistic diseases is another burden to many widows.

"Sometimes, the man dies after selling all the property including land, leaving you with over five children, some of them also infected with HIV," said Mugisha, adding that most HIV positive widows are barred from selling domestic items for treatment.

She says most HIV positive widows experience economic drain as a consequence of the sickness of their husbands before they die.

Annet Biryetega, the coordinator of the National Community of Women Living with AIDS (NACWOLA), says most HIV positive women are poor.

She says most of them were housewives before their husbands died. Some of them, she says, are being forced into paid work by the stigma and discrimination arising from the fact that they have to fend for their families.

Biryetega says the worst experience many HIV positive widows face is when their husbands' families disown them.

In Uganda, property ownership in marriage has been identified with the husband. Although the 1995 Constitution provides that laws, cultures, customs or traditions which are against the dignity, welfare or interest of women or which undermine their status are prohibited by the Constitution, the country's cultures and customs do not recognise contributions of a wife to matrimonial property.

The Domestic Relations Bill, soon to be debated seeks to recognise both the monetary and non-monetary contributions of women to matrimonial property.

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