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Widow inheritance

 

 
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Widow inheritance
 
 
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Widow inheritance, also known as bride inheritance, is a type of marriage
Types of marriages

The type, functions, and characteristics of marriage vary from culture to culture, and can change over time. In general there are two types: civil marriage and religious marriage, and typically marriages employ a combination of both ....
 in which a widow
Widow

A widow is a woman whose husband has died. A man whose wife has died is a widower. The state of having lost one's spouse to death is termed widowhood or viduity....
 marries a kinsman of her late husband, often his brother.

It can have various forms and functions in different cultures, serving in relative proportions as a social protection for, and control over, the widow and her children. She may have the right to require her late husband's extended family
Extended family

Extended family is a term with several distinct meanings. First, it is used synonymously with Consanguinity. Second, in societies dominated by the conjugal family, it is used to refer to kindred who does not belong to the conjugal family....
 to provide her with a new man, or conversely she might have the obligation to accept the man put forward by the family, with no real prospect of turning him down, if her birth family will not accept her back into their home.

The custom is sometimes justified on the basis that it ensures that the wealth does not leave the patrilineal family.






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Encyclopedia


Widow inheritance, also known as bride inheritance, is a type of marriage
Types of marriages

The type, functions, and characteristics of marriage vary from culture to culture, and can change over time. In general there are two types: civil marriage and religious marriage, and typically marriages employ a combination of both ....
 in which a widow
Widow

A widow is a woman whose husband has died. A man whose wife has died is a widower. The state of having lost one's spouse to death is termed widowhood or viduity....
 marries a kinsman of her late husband, often his brother.

It can have various forms and functions in different cultures, serving in relative proportions as a social protection for, and control over, the widow and her children. She may have the right to require her late husband's extended family
Extended family

Extended family is a term with several distinct meanings. First, it is used synonymously with Consanguinity. Second, in societies dominated by the conjugal family, it is used to refer to kindred who does not belong to the conjugal family....
 to provide her with a new man, or conversely she might have the obligation to accept the man put forward by the family, with no real prospect of turning him down, if her birth family will not accept her back into their home.

The custom is sometimes justified on the basis that it ensures that the wealth does not leave the patrilineal family. It is also sometimes justified as a protection for the widow and her children.

A form of widow inheritance existed in ancient Judaism
Judaism

Judaism is a set of beliefs and practices originating in the Hebrew Bible , as later further explored and explained in the Talmud and other texts....
, where it is known as levirate marriage
Levirate marriage

Levirate marriage is a types of marriages in which a widow is required to marry one of her husband's brothers after her husband's death. Levirate marriage has been practiced by societies with a strong clan structure in which exogamous marriage, i.e....
 (see yibbum
Yibbum

Yibbum , or levirate marriage, in Judaism, is one of the most complex types of marriages mandated by Torah law . According to the law, the brother of a man who died without children has an obligation to marry the widow....
). It is known in India
India

India, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, the List of countries by population country, and the most populous liberal democracy in the world....
 . It is common in certain African groups, for example the Luo
Luo

Luo may refer to:*Luo , a group of related African ethnic groups.*Luo , a people of Kenya and Tanzania, part of the above named group*Luo languages...
 in Kenya
Kenya

The Republic of Kenya is a country in East Africa. It is bordered by Ethiopia to the north, Somalia to the northeast, Tanzania to the south, Uganda to the west, and Sudan to the northwest, with the Indian Ocean running along the southeast border....
 and Uganda
Uganda

The Republic of Uganda is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by Tanzania....
 around Lake Victoria
Lake Victoria

Lake Victoria or Victoria Nyanza is one of the Great Lakes of Africa.Lake Victoria is 68,800 square kilometres in size, making it the continent's largest lake, the largest tropical lake in the world, and the second widest fresh water lake in the world in terms of surface area ....
.

As it is a mechanism for the transmission of HIV
HIV

Human immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that can lead to AIDS , a condition in humans in which the immune system begins to fail, leading to life-threatening opportunistic infections....
 within a given social community, women are increasingly challenging this custom as an abuse of their human rights
Human rights

Human rights refer to the "basic rights and freedom to which all humans are entitled." Examples of rights and freedoms which have come to be commonly thought of as human rights include civil and political rights, such as the right to life and liberty, freedom of speech, and equality before the law; and social, cultural and economic rights, i...
.

See also

  • Levirate marriage
    Levirate marriage

    Levirate marriage is a types of marriages in which a widow is required to marry one of her husband's brothers after her husband's death. Levirate marriage has been practiced by societies with a strong clan structure in which exogamous marriage, i.e....
    , the term by which this practice is better known


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