* Any views expressed in this opinion piece are those of the author and not of Thomson Reuters Foundation.
Help in writing a will can help older people decide what happens to their property
Today is World Elder Abuse Awareness Day. To mark the occasion, older people in more than 36 countries will be campaigning for the right to be free from violence and abuse under international law.
I’ve worked as the Country Director for HelpAge International in Tanzania for more than four years. I’ve been encouraged by the significant improvements the government has made in recognising older people’s rights including by creating a ministry for older people’s welfare, providing free health care and promoting a campaign that prioritises older people in public services. Despite these positive changes, there are still widespread hidden violations of older people’s rights, including extreme cases of violence and murder.
Quite often we hear news of older people accused of alleged witch craft practices highlighting the negative perceptions and lack of awareness of the rights that older people have. Older women bear the brunt of this, often facing potentially fatal witchcraft allegations. In 2012, 630 older people were reported to have been murdered as a result of these accusations. In 2013, this rose to 765, two-thirds of whom were women.
Witches are believed to have red eyes, a common occurrence among women who have spent decades cooking over smoky, inefficient stoves using poor quality fuel.
In some case these killings are carried out by younger family members, intent on forcibly possessing their parents’ and grandparents’ assets. We’ve seen older women murdered, assaulted and evicted from their homes and farms into a life of poverty.
HelpAge International and its partners have been working with communities in Tanzania, helping to protect older women from exploitation and denial of their rights. In the Magu district we’re working with local authorities and community leaders to change negative attitudes and practices towards them and protect them against attempts to force them off their land.
Writing a will can help older people decide what happens to their property when they or their partner dies. Being able to plan in advance is crucial to maintaining autonomy right up to the end of life.
One of the biggest obstacles is the lack of information older people have about their rights. We’re training and supporting 240 paralegals to ensure communities have access to legal advice, counselling and referral services, in turn helping to prevent future conflict among families and communities.
One of those who took part in the project, Paskazia, a 60-year-old widow, didn’t know that women had a right to own property. “All of it was registered in the name of a man, even in the family”, she said. “If the husband dies the property is then registered in the name of the son and not the widow.”
We want older people to be able to challenge rights abuses. These paralegals often facilitate access to title deeds and support women in will writing so they are better safeguarded in the future.
As a result of the project, many of the older women felt more confident at standing up for their rights and a greater sense of security for the future.
Paskazia said: “The project has helped to bring us together. We know our rights and if anyone tries to abuse us we stand together. I feel very happy now because my family respect me and I respect them. I have written a will saying how I want my property to be distributed when I die.”
All this is just in one district but there are thousands of other older women to reach in Tanzania and across the region. We need to focus on the perpetrators too and increase their understanding of older people’s rights to property and life by challenging negative cultural practices that label older women as witches.
By opposing negative stereotypes of ageing and providing training on legal and human rights we can ensure that older women are equipped to protect themselves against attempts to dispossess them from their land. We need to encourage communities to challenge traditions that deny older people’s rights.
As Mwajuma, a 70-year-old farmer from the Kwimba district told us, “It is important for women to know their rights because it empowers them. If they know their rights they can demand them.”
Amleset Tewodros is country director of HelpAge International Tanzania.
