Confronting Difficult Circumstances: The Case of Masvingo Widows

bibliographic database
Line

Periodical article

Title:	Confronting Difficult Circumstances: The Case of Masvingo Widows
Author:	Muzvidziwa, Victor Ngonidzashe
Year:	2000
Periodical:	SAFERE: Southern African Feminist Review (ISSN 1024-9451)
Volume:	4-5
Issue:	2-1
Pages:	73-91
Language:	English
Notes:	biblio. refs.
Geographic terms:	Zimbabwe Southern Africa
Subjects:	female-headed households widows Cultural Roles Marital Relations and Nuptiality Sex Roles gender Heads of households Poverty alleviation Survival strategies women
External link:	https://www.ajol.info/index.php/safere/article/view/23931
Abstract:	The aim of this paper is to investigate the circumstances of widows as female heads of households in the town of Masvingo in southern Zimbabwe. Far from passively accepting their fate, the widows devise all sorts of coping mechanisms to try to escape the poverty in which they have to live, albeit not very successfully. They suffer high stress levels, but this does not deter them from making positive attempts to improve their position. So far, as a social group widows have attracted little scientific attention in urban socioeconomic studies but they form a crucial entity, worthy of proper attention, especially at a time when AIDS is making such inroads into the population. Notes, ref., sum. [ASC Leiden abstract]