Department of Public Health, Catherine University, St. Paul, MN, USA.
Department of Health Studies, Saint Joseph's University, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
Cult Health Sex. 2023 Jun;25(6):698-710. doi: 10.1080/13691058.2022.2091797. Epub 2022 Aug 8.
In this paper, the sexual 'cleansing' of widows and subsequent inheritance is assessed for its socio-cultural significance. Although the practice has been well studied in the context of HIV in Sub-Saharan Africa, it has not been widely examined as an act of sexual violence against women. To address this gap, in-depth interviews were conducted with 27 widows aged 29 to 90 years in Siaya County in Southwest Kenya. A majority of participants stated the cleansing ritual was forcefully initiated, violently fulfilled, and frequently seen as rape. Findings from this study necessitate the identification of the cultural practice of widow cleansing as an act of violence against women. Doing so will facilitate the creation of a legal framework with which to act to eliminate the practice.
本文评估了寡妇的性“净化”及其后续的继承权在社会文化方面的意义。尽管在撒哈拉以南非洲的艾滋病毒背景下，这种做法已经得到了充分的研究，但它尚未被广泛视为对妇女的性暴力行为。为了弥补这一空白，本研究在肯尼亚西南部锡亚县对 27 名年龄在 29 岁至 90 岁之间的寡妇进行了深入访谈。大多数参与者表示，净化仪式是被强行启动的，是通过暴力完成的，而且经常被视为强奸。本研究的结果表明，有必要将寡妇净化的文化习俗确认为对妇女的暴力行为。这样做将有助于建立一个法律框架，以便采取行动消除这种做法。
