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Sighs behind the Veils: A Display of the Late-life Widowhood of Rural Women in Habiganj

Corresponding Author : Md. Mizanur Rahman (mmrahman.scw@gmail.com)

Authors : Md. Mizanur Rahman (mmrahman.scw@gmail.com)

Keywords : Aging, widowhood, vulnerability, widow allowance, exclusion

Abstract :

This paper focuses on the elicitation of consequences of the late-life widowhood (e.g. elderly widowhood) of women living in the rural areas of Habiganj district in Bangladesh. For this, the concurrent triangulation design of mixed methodology (i.e. sample survey, case study and focus group discussion) was followed to complete the study. A total of ninety-six face-to-face interviews, ten case studies and two focus group discussions were conducted to collect data from the rural elderly widowed women. Major findings reveal that in the patriarchal society, the rural elderly widowed women were transformed through an array of critical stages e.g. marriage, remarriage and widowhood that were socially approved by the ever-changing social structures and institutions of our society. Those who came upon the realities of late-life widowhood encountered the adversities of social and economic dependency on others. They were to survive with social isolation, loneliness, social exclusion and its severity, and struggle against the worst conditions of widowhood. They experienced many excruciating conditions due to the the fact that they often had no savings, source of income, and even no control over fixed assets and resources of their deceased husband. Socio-psychological support of their offspring was time-bound and ostensibly scarce if they became teenagers or lived away, and even subsisted under the tutelage of daughter-in-laws or son-in-laws. Those who received widow allowance reported its amount too meager to cover all aspects of their subsistence and allow them to somehow survive in society. Echoing all aspects of their past and present life they were in tears at the indelible memories of the previous life, and sighed for the existing sufferings of late-life (elderly) widowhood.

Published on June 30th, 2020 in VOL 31, No. 1, Social Sciences