EMOTIONAL TRAUMA AS IT CONCERNS WIDOWS AND VULNERABLE PEOPLE

EMOTIONAL TRAUMA AS IT CONCERNS WIDOWS AND VULNERABLE PEOPLE There is need to address the possible emotional traumas experienced by widows and the down trodden in the society due to the following: • Loss of loved one • Domestic violence • Sexual assault • Disinheritance • Forced marriage • Forced eviction • Property grabbing etc. The unpreparedness in these experiences can lead to untold emotional turmoil for a long time. When these emotions are unresolved, they could lead to serious health challenges including mental health issues. The condition of widows is quite deplorable in our society, Nigeria and Africa at large. This is due to the social, economic and cultural environment, which ignores the basic human rights of women and the vulnerable. These set of people often suffer from depression, anxiety, insecurity and apprehension. These should be taken into account by health, social workers and others who come to aid such women, especially when it has developed into psychosis or psychiatric illness. The society has actually committed a sin of omission against widows and the vulnerable. They are painfully absent from the statistics of the country and are rarely mentioned in the multitude of reports on women's poverty, development, health or human rights in the past 25years. Growing evidence of their vulnerability both socioeconomic and psychological now challenges man’s conventional views and assumptions about this visible group of women who are treated as invisible - widows. With the womenfolk becoming increasingly economically independent and more aware of their rights, there is a growing trend of refusal to continue in unsatisfying relationships. Widowhood is primarily experienced across gender line but those mostly adversely affected are elderly women and in Nigeria it also affects younger women and girls due to some cultural defects. Worldwide data highlight the fact that women live longer than men and in addition, women tend to marry older men. The odds of being widowed for women are therefore greater than men. (Lee 2002) The disorganisation and trauma that follow the death of a spouse is also greater in the women. Widows experience myriads of economic, social and psychological problems especially in the first three months to one year after the passing away of the spouse. In a situation where the man is the sole breadwinner, his income will no longer be available and in some cases the in-laws deprive the widow of the husband’s gratuity and inheritance. Some widows are disowned by relatives and thrown out of their homes in context of land and inheritance disputes. Previously this was aided by lack of education and training but in recent times there has been a rise in exploitations even by the schooled. Abuse can make widow feel lonely and traumatised. The widow can suffer fear of being alone, loss of self-esteem, loss of social contact and human association; therefore they tend to withdraw and become unresponsive. The culmination of these may result in psychiatric illness for those whose resistance to trauma is low. The society should have a changed mind-set and the government should put in place and execute laws on welfare and social security that will bring succour so that widows and the vulnerable will feel secure. Dr. Ovwurie Doris Ogho