When Michelle, 57, was widowed in 2012, she lost more than her husband. Shortly after his death, her in-laws took over the fields she had tilled for decades. They also stole the fruit from the trees in her kitchen garden and sold the harvest, leaving her without any livelihood. They further harassed, intimidated, and insulted her by surrounding and physically restraining her and telling her to leave her home, in an attempt to chase her away.

Michelle’s neighbours advised her to contact Legal Resources Foundation, a legal aid organisation that could help her protect her inheritance. It was only after this organisation took the matter to court and Michelle obtained restraining orders against her in-laws that she was able to go back to tilling her fields. But her in-laws continue to threaten to take her only cow, so she still worries about the future: “I am fearful and my heart is unsettled.”

Glynnis, 50, was not as fortunate as Michelle. When her husband of 20 years passed away, her in-laws made it clear that they no longer wanted her around:

    After his death, things became difficult. There was no support for food, and I couldn’t send my children to school. They [my in-laws] kept saying I should leave the house.… They kept saying to go away, which pained me, so I left. I just left my marital home.

    They also took five cattle and household items. I tried to get [my husband’s army pension] but [his relatives] wouldn’t sign the paperwork. I have gotten nothing. I believe that this is unfair to my children … [but] I have given up. I can do nothing [to stop it].

Glynnis left the home she had owned with her husband, seeing no way to keep her property in the face of constant harassment from her in-laws. She went to the house where she grew up, which is now owned by her brother. Her brother agreed to let her and her three children farm some of his land, and she now farms and pays government taxes—a levy for all farmers—on the land. Glynnis no longer owns a property.

Based on interviews with 59 widows in all 10 provinces of Zimbabwe between May and October 2016, this report documents the human rights vulnerabilities and abuses that widows in Zimbabwe face. Around the world, millions of older women—and older people generally—routinely experience violations of their human rights. This report focuses on abuses related to property grabbing from widows, predominantly older women.

Report by the Human Rights Watch