Violence Against Women: A Study on the Situation of Widows in India

This paper aims to discuss the situation of the widows in Indian and victimization on the basis of discrimination and violation of human rights. It evaluates the actual situation of the widows in India, the implication of human rights in preventing violence, and recommends effective strategies to manage the situation and reduce violation of human rights among the widows.

Running head: VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN
VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN
name of the student:
name of University:
Author's note:

1VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN
Abstract
This paper aims to discuss the situation of the widows in indian and victimization on the basis
of discrimination and violation of human rights. In order to conduct the research, the
researcher has taken the descriptive research design. Both the primary and secondary data
collection methods have been applied. In the case of primary research survey and interview,
method have been followed. The survey has done on 100 widows and the interview done on 3
managers of the human rights department. It has been identified that in the current situation,
the position of widows in the society is still poor. Social cruelty and discrimination have been
considered as the important reason behind this situation. At the end of the study, the
researcher has provided useful recommendations for dealing with the situations.

2VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN
Acknowledgement
In this research, it has been experienced by me that it was one of the best knowledge of my
life. From this research, I have gathered knowledge regarding various models, concepts and
theories. Firstly I will thank the God. After GOD, I will thank my supervisor
______________ who have guided me in this research. I will also thank my parents as they
have played a supportive role in completing this research project. I will also thank my
friends for the moral support they have given.

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Table of Contents
Chapter 1:...................................................................................................................................4
Introduction................................................................................................................................5
1.1 Background of the study:.................................................................................................5
1.2 Rationale of the research..................................................................................................7
1.3 Problem Statement...........................................................................................................8
1.4 Aim of the research:.........................................................................................................9
1.5 Objective of the research:.................................................................................................9
1.6 Question of the research...................................................................................................9
1.7 Structure of the research:.................................................................................................9
1.8. Summary:......................................................................................................................11
Chapter 2:.................................................................................................................................12
Literature Review.....................................................................................................................12
2.0 Introduction....................................................................................................................12
2.1. Situation of widows in India:........................................................................................12
2.2. Customs around widows:..............................................................................................15
2.3. Theoretical approaches on domestic violence:.............................................................15
2.3. Crime against widows:..................................................................................................18
2.3. legislation to restore human rights of widows..............................................................19
Chapter 3..................................................................................................................................26
Research methodology.............................................................................................................26
3.0 Introduction....................................................................................................................26
3.1 Research Philosophy......................................................................................................26
3.1.1 Justification for selected research philosophy.............................................................27
3.2 Research Approach........................................................................................................27
3.2.1 Justification for the chosen research approach............................................................27
3.3 Research design..............................................................................................................27
3.3.1 Justification for selected research purpose..................................................................28
3.4 Data collection process..................................................................................................28
3.5 Data Analysis techniques...............................................................................................28
Sampling technique and accessibility issues............................................................................29
3.6 Ethical consideration......................................................................................................29
3.7 Research limitation.........................................................................................................30

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3.8 Research Timeframe......................................................................................................30
3.9 Summary:.......................................................................................................................31
Chapter 4..................................................................................................................................32
Analysis and Findings..............................................................................................................32
4.0. Introduction:..................................................................................................................32
4.1 Quantitative analysis (for widows)................................................................................32
Table 1: Widows in Vrindavan........................................................................................32
Table 2: Occupation of survival.......................................................................................33
Table 3: Awareness about NGO activities.......................................................................34
Table 4: Meeting with families........................................................................................35
4.2 Qualitative research........................................................................................................46
Summary:.............................................................................................................................50
Chapter 5..................................................................................................................................51
Conclusion and Recommendation............................................................................................51
5.0. Conclusion:...................................................................................................................51
5.1. Linking with objective:.................................................................................................51
5.2. Recommendation:.........................................................................................................53
5.3. Future scope of the research:.........................................................................................56
6. Reference and bibliography:................................................................................................57
7. Appendix..............................................................................................................................64

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Chapter 1:
Introduction
1.0 Introduction
Widows in India are seen as the liability of the family and have no value fir their
relatives after they lost their husbands. They have profound problem as they are outcast to
suffer in poverty and isolation forever. They become the de-sexed creatures for the society
and the epithets like ‘husband eater’ and ‘unfortunate’ are used against them. In this 21st
century also, the women in India are accused to be responsible for their husband’s death
hence the widowhood brings them the state of social death irrespective of higher or lower
caste of the society (Shivakumar 2017). According to some researchers, A segment of
widows are expected to follow spiritual path with various restrictions affecting them
physically and psychologically. On the other hand, the widows living in the ashrams of
Vrindavan or Banaras often forced to prostitution by the corrupt heads. The widows in India
thus have been confronting social constrains to be a widowed woman, neglect of social and
public authorities, insufficient legal measures for them. They have been remaining
underprivileged as well as deprived of the universally accredited human rights for all
(Mishra, Shekhar and Gouda 2016). Moreover, this selected subject is problematic to explore
as these women are deprived of education and other personal development factors hence
neither can access information nor can help researchers to collect information about them.
Hence, this study is significant because Indian government has recently established very few
legislative initiatives at the national and state level to eradicate gender discrimination and
suffering of these women in the country.

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1.1 Background of the study:
For more than 50 million and growing windows in India contains more than 10
percent female population of India (Varma 2016). They are leading life of living sati which is
a reference to the mythical incident of the goddess Sati for her husband’s insult. Later the
religious heads have turned the incident and used it as a practice of burning widows with their
husbands at the same time. As discussed before, most of the widows are forced to live in the
dark and damp places in Vrindavan termed as the ‘city of widows’ where many widows are
under ten years old even (Gupta and Sekher 2018). They were once revered as mother, sister
and daughter but destined to die in that place without even meeting their families again. The
situation in this recent time has become more dangerous as the young widows are trafficked
and forced to earn though prostitution.
Below 30 percent of these widows in India are eligible for pensions among which
only 11% are actually getting their payments (Womenwelfare.org 2018). This is the reason
why more than 15000 widows have nothing to do without begging in the streets of Vrindavan
to meet their days end (Asiapacific.unwomen.org 2018). The widows who stay with their in-
laws or even their parents are devoid of being part of the family wealth as they are granted to
be unlucky for the families. Financial aid hence become most crucial for helping these
women but the number of NGOs and governmental grant are less than the actual necessity.
Widows in India seem to trail all the religious and social rules because they
internalized them. They follow other widows without moving against these worse traditions
of suffering they resign to this kind of destiny like living in destitute and placing numerous
restrictions on the healthy diet (Gupta and Sekher 2018). The orthodox Hindus do not allow
their widows to have onions, garlic, meat and fish as these contain proteins that stimulate
blood and physical growth. Therefore, these are granted to be impure for these widows but
these foods are actually necessary for avoiding malnutrition. Moreover, these widows

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observe various types of religious ceremonies for which they starve for a day thus
malnutrition even leads to death. The mortality rate of these women is higher than other
married women (Lloyd-Sherlock, Corso and Minicuci 2015). In the Indian society, across
different caste and religion, the widows are habitually perceived by their family members as
burden hence sexually threatening toward other’s marriages.
According to the national crime bureau of India, the violence against women
especially on the widows is the fastest growing crime. More than 40 million of these women
are deprived of financial support from their relatives or governments (Justice.gov 2018).
They are also devoid of maintaining basic dignity as being a widow is a sin in this country.
The fundamental human rights are being violated with these crimes against widows in one
hand and preventing these women to utilize their full potential or even survive in the society.
The government of the India is responsible to promote the rights of women and insist upon
the accountability of the perpetrators. In this respect, effective laws are to be issued so that
the violence against widows and neglected behavior perpetuating their subordinate status get
reduced in the society.
1.2 Rationale of the research
In the city of widows, more than 15000 women are struggling every day to survive
(Justice.gov 2018). They are outcast from the society or their own families to suffer in
destitute. They do not have the minimum evaluation so that they can earn for themselves nor
they have any pathway to turn around or go against the rules of the society. These women are
neglected buy the local authorities and also overlooked by the civil society organizations.
These women do not have their own organizations of interest groups so that they can
pressurize the government to aid them both socially and financially. They do not posses
power or authority in their family or guardians hence cannot protest or prevent abuse against
them. This is the reason why they endure ostracism, extreme poverty, violence, malnutrition,

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homelessness and discrimination in custom and laws. Therefore, it can be stated that the
situation of the widows in India is almost invisible so also their problems (Lloyd-Sherlock,
Corso and Minicuci 2015). Many of these widows have been devoid of their rights as to
Indian customs, women cannot inherit the wealth of their father, nor they can claim the
wealth of their husbands’. This insecurity both in terms of financial as well as social hence
are subjected to exploitation even evicted from their own houses by their relatives. These
widows are therefore forced into some exploitative work or begging to support themselves.
1.3 Problem Statement
In the rural India, widowhood is seen as the source of shame this stigmatized to be the
curse of the family. In some culture, these widow women are seen to practice witchcraft
which make them more vulnerable in surviving in their society. This is the reason why many
of the widows are sent to Vrindavan to suffer in destitute. There they have none to take care
of them, even their relatives do not visit them frequently. These women have no education or
power to go against these ill customs of the society hence cannot get help from the NGOs or
the rights they actually possess (Lloyd-Sherlock, Corso and Minicuci 2015). Moreover, in the
interior rural region of India, the instances of Sati can be found where the widows are burnt
against their will with their dead husbands. These sufferings also affect their children or next
generation as these children are more vulnerable to be abused. The widows as cannot arrange
for money to educate their children withdraw them from schools, cannot arrange for their
daughters’ marriage hence their sufferings get doubled.
Such brutalities against the widows are seen justified in the Indian society as this
supports the cultural and religious practices. Impunity to abuse women and depriving them
from their rights is rife but very few perpetrators have successfully brought them to justice.
Even if the country provides them legal protection more inclusively, widows actually suffer
social and financial marginalization. The paper therefore, further explains the reason of

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maintaining this institute of widowhood in India and how this is preventing these women to
be deprived of enjoying minimum benefits or human rights.
1.4 Aim of the research:
The aim of this research is to analyses the current situation under which the widows
of Vrindavan are surviving and to provide possible explanation of the violation of widow
human rights in India.
1.5 Objective of the research:
The objectives of the research are as follows:
To evaluate the actual situation of the widows in India
To evaluate the implication of human rights in preventing violence
To recommend effective strategies to manage the situation and reduce
violation of human rights among the widows.
1.6 Question of the research
 What is the actual situation of the widows in India?
 How effective the human rights in preventing violence over the widows?
1.7 Structure of the research:
This study will be discussing the complete matter through five detailed chapter. The
first chapter of this study in the introduction where there will be some introductory parts such
as the background of this study, rationale of the research study on widowhood in India, aim
and objective of this study and questions of this particular research study. The second chapter
will be covering the review of different literatures relevant to this study. This chapter has
contained different perspectives of the critics who already has idealized with this subject and
gained knowledge through studying historical facts about the suffering of widowhood in

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India. The third chapter contains the research methodology with different approaches, designs
and philosophies of this particular research study (Kethineni 2017). Sources of collected data,
sample size and data analysis technique have been illustrated in this particular chapter. The
next or fourth chapter covers the findings of collected data and their proper analysis. The last
or fifth chapter concludes this study where the researcher has connected the research
objectives with collected information and analysis. Towards the end the researcher has made
recommendation for the requirements of this study.
Figure 1: Structure of the dissertation
(Source: As created by author)
Chapter 1: Introduction
Chapter 2: Literature Review
Chapter 3: Research methodology
Chapter 4: Analysis and Findings
Chapter 5: Conclusion and
recommendation

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1.8. Summary:
This chapter is the introductory portion of this research study. In this part, the
background of the study and rationale has been discussed. In addition to this, the researcher
has detailed the aims, objectives along with questions of this research in this particular
chapter. In this chapter, proper and possible structure of the dissertation has been discussed
by the researcher of this study.

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Chapter 2:
Literature Review
2.0 Introduction
There has been a huge research on the topic of psychological as well as physical
violence on the unprotected widows in India. This chapter has discussed various perspectives
that the critics have analyzed in their literatures in order to understand the pathetic situation
of the Hindu widows in the country. This chapter has made a conceptual framework of the
relevant ideas and concepts on this specific research topic (Kethineni 2017). This part of this
assignment discusses the situation of widows in India starting irrespective of rural or urban
area, customs around them and criminal instances. This part also discusses the human rights
of these widows which are most of the cases get violated to exploit the widows in India. This
section concludes with the changing scenario where the widowhood is no longer a death but
way to live empowered.
2.1. Situation of widows in India:
The traditional communities of India widowhood represent social death for women.
This not only means that the widows have lost their husband, the breadwinner of the family
and supporter of their children but every dreams of a woman dies with her husband’s death
(Chauhan 2011). Becoming widow is regarded to be worst fates in the traditional Hindu
society. This is applicable for widows of urban or rural, middle class or lower-class families.
The ma’s death in case it occurs at his young age is attributed to the ill fate brought by his
wife as she must have done sins in her past life. With the death of her husband therefore, her
auspicious wifehood ends and she enters the dreaded life of widowhood. Widowhood robs
the minimum status and respect thus consigns her to the margin of society to live in

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desolation. It is the life of a living dead suffering extreme form of stigma and discrimination
(Kethineni 2017). This scenery has a common and identical face in all over the India.
According to Niswade (2015), the widowhood bears the shame and ill fate for the
women in the rural area. Despite the fact that more than 33 million women have been
suffering from this institution, very little facts can be accessed about them. The social stigma
that engulfs the lives of the Hindu widows is the actual reason of their suffering. The study is
concentrated in the Vidarbha region of western India and the author has pointed out that the
social and economic situation of the rural families are pushing this institution of widowhood
in more severity (Mitra 2018). This study is centered round a survey conducted on 300
widows of various age group so that the different factors affecting their development as well
as survival can be identified. The survey has identified that 69% widows were illiterate in the
region, 96% had economic problems, and 47% faced discrimination due to caste system as
well as religious obligations (Kethineni 2017).
This analytical study has attended to achieve a better understanding of the social as
well as economic condition of widows, by focusing attention on widowhood as a social
problem. The research explores dominant ideological construction of the widowhood in
context of the religion, patriarchy, and traditional customs. Among the age group the author
has found some children widows below the age of 12 or so (Chauhan 2011). The situation of
the elderly widows is more vulnerable. Age has placed these widows in the most problematic
situation and endangered to discrimination, oppression, dependence and most importantly
numerous health issues. In this case the victims are not only suffering physically but also
from psychological problems as they face neglect from their sons and other relatives and
isolation (Mitra 2018). As the reason of such suffering, the author has pointed out some
issues associated with social as well as economic policies of the state and actions taken in
support of the property rights of the widows that neglect the responsibilities to provide them a

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social security, effective employment and participation in the workforce of the country and
most importantly the social identity.
The study conducted by Ahmed-Ghosh (2009), has revealed that there are studies and
films that have started to focus on the plights of the widows in India but very few of them
know the actual situation of these widows. The author has pointed out that the suffering of
the widows in this country is due to the issues of masculinity and the women’s sexuality. The
author has identified that the culture of the country always gives scopes to execute power by
men over the women (Mitra 2018). In dominating women, the patriarchal society of India has
taken various ways controlled the lives of women. This paper has highlighted why the
identity of women is judged by their sexuality and to from other perspectives. From ancient
times, society and religion along with government has been perpetuating and legitimizing the
masculine power as well as masculinity over women to be supreme power. The identity of
widows, therefore, has become the most negligible as they have lost their men, the support
hence can be easily dominated (Inman and Rao 2018). Threatened by multiple social and
religious forces as well as ages of traditions the widows in India have been de-sexed by the
society. Therefore, the condition of these women is complex and problematic to overcome.
Mohindra, Haddad and Narayana (2012) on the other hand have described the
unendurable situation of the widows in the rural region of Kerala. These authors have
investigated the health and financial situation of the widows in the southern part of India.
They have examined the data collected from the Gram Panchayat or the lowest level
government authority of a village (Inman and Rao 2018). Moreover, they have also
interviewed the heads of the panchayat to now the local structures of 'widowhood'. This study
has defined whether the welfare programs and social opportunities provided by the state and
central government for widows are actually reaching them (Mondal 2017). The semi-
interviews with the community have disclosed many facts related with the vulnerability of the

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widows in that village. From these investigation, the authors have found out some very
important factors. It points out that whether it is the northern part of India or the southern the
victimization of widows is constant and have unchangingly nature. The social stigma and
taboos to be a cursed woman has no difference. The health issues leading to high rate of
mortality has not successfully grab the attention of society this is the reason why becoming
widow is seen as shock that ultimately gives birth to health and economic shock among these
women.
2.2. Customs around widows:
The word widow is used as an epithet for the unfortunate women in India. Therefore,
there are numerous belief and religious customs have been built around them (Chauhan
2011). As a widow the women are first of all forbidden to adorn themselves. In most of the
cases they are forced to wear only a plain white or black clothing, shed all her ornaments and
symbols of wifehood (Inman and Rao 2018). The Hindus believe that a woman why have lost
her husband at a young age is still married to him hence she is expected to remain faithful to
him even after death and reach him the highest spiritual plane. This can only be done when
the wife will live in poverty lying all earthly connections and chant prayer to the gods for
their dead husband. In case the wife even thins of remarrying, it is regarded as adultery hence
must be punished (Mohindra et al. 2012).
2.3. Theoretical approaches on domestic violence:
It has been identified that in many of the cases the human behaviour is getting
affected. Due to the complication of human behaviour, different types of violence have
become one of the major issues in the current society. Although various types of norms and
regulations have been introduced against such violence, but due to lack of proper information
and attention from the society, such situations occur. It has been identified that in the current

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scenario, the violence against women has increased. Different authors have introduced many
of theoretical approaches against domestic violence. Those are as follows.
Feminist theory:
As stated by Modleski (2015), in the year 1970, the political movement was
introduction for the fundamental rights of women. Aim of the movement was to fight against
the gender, race. Sexual preference and class discrimination. By supporting this Allen (2015)
stated that sexual assault, rape, dowry and female infanticide related cruelty have become the
major issue, which can be demolished by introducing effective initiative. In the feminist
view, not only the rape but also sexual assaults on the women is not passion, it is social
statement. The feminist theory hence strongly opposes the violence against widows in India.
Family System Theory:
In the words of Kagitcibasi (2017), the family statement theory indicates that
family and the social situation of a person play an essential role for influencing the violent
habits. Depending on the biological determinants the violence can be classified. The
hormonal factors, personality characteristics and intra-psychic are influential in the case of
influencing the violence. As mentioned before, the widows are the most vulnerable section
who face the first wave of violence from their family. The situation of the widows in India is
so pathetic that in the state of Punjab these widows are usually forced to marry their
husband’s brother after becoming widow or they will be raped.
Socio-Psychological theories

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Figure: Socio-Psychological model
(Source: Lind, 2017)
In the Socio-Psychological theory it has been mentioned that criminal violence can
be examined through external environmental factors which impact on the individuals’
behaviour. Depending on the interaction the theory can be analysed. The frustration,
aggressiveness and prevention can be understood through this model. Here the theory has
described how the psychological impacts such as thoughts, feelings, beliefs and action and
social impacts such as religion, family, society and wealth influence the socio-psychological
activities. These are the aspects that give birth to the psychology of exploiting and torturing
the weakest section of the society.
Frustration-Aggression Theory:
Frustration-Aggression Theory of violence, is one of the important theory that
indicates the individuals’ attempt towards the violence (Breuer and Elson, 2017.). In this
theory the process is being discussed in which the frustration is being linked with the
aggression. It has been mentioned that increasing tension, stress, financial crisis and anger are
the main influencing factor behind aggression that reflect through violence.

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2.3. Crime against widows:
In recent years the crime against women in India has shown a sharp growth in rate of
the violence against widows was an old and accepted tradition that also increased in this
opportunity. The girl and older widows already lost their position in the family after their
husband’s death and used to feel more helpless where they should be safest. The research
conducted by Naidu (2013), has revealed the most important facets of violence against
widows by their own family members. The study has covered the victimization of these
woman both physically and emotionally as they are not allowed to make their own decisions,
protect themselves from physical torture and voice opinions against their torturers because
they are the most neglected section of the society. Therefore, the human rights are absent in
their lives hence gradually succumb to death or abnormality (Mondal 2017). The domestic
violence is high in the north Indian states like Haryana, UP and Rajasthan as there are class-
caste system in the society and the widows are often treated as untouchables by the family
members. These widows are threatened to suffer more domestic violence as they are forced to
marry their father-in-law or bother-in-law to stay in their homes. These women are victims of
malnutrition as they do not get sufficient food to survive or work outside house to meet their
days end (Deep 2017). Domestic violence on the widows have become common issue and
this affect human right aspects of health, economy, education or any type of personal
development. In some cases, the widows are forbidden from indulging in vanity as well as
ornamenting her appearance with any type of makeup, ornate apparel and marriage markers
even ornaments. In many cases, women are forced to shave their heads and they cannot to
grow hair for rest of their lives (Ansari 2018). The young widows are forced to prostitution or
trafficked as they seem to bring curse on their families. Above all, in the far-flung villages of
Rajasthan the custom of sati has been recorded where the widows are burn in their husband’s
pyre.

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Human trafficking is a very common incident in the rural area of India where the
young or child widows are sent for staying in ashrams or homes. These Ashrams often
encourage the practices of sexual abuse and prostitution to gauge their funds or finance
(Bhattacharyya and Singh 2018). As the guardians or relatives avoid to visit these places or
these widows, the ashrams force these young women or children you do what the authority
want. Here the young widows are often supplied to the rich customers in lieu of a heavy sum.
In some of the ashrams, there is a Sevadasi system in which the ashram authorities arrange
service to the rich as well as powerful pilgrims. Under this particular system, these widows
offer each service to satisfy the proprietors of the ashram or Dharmshalas as well as Bhajan
Ashrams. In such services, forced sex is also included (Pande 2018). This system of sevadasi
however prevalent in such institutions ultimately leads to encourage the illegal practices of
trafficking as well as prostitution.
2.3. legislation to restore human rights of widows
The constitution of India has supported for equal rights to both men and women. The
article 14 of the Indian constitution states that the state will never deny to maintain any
person’s equality before law as well as equal protection through laws in the territory of the
country. One the other hand the Article 15 states that the government of the country will
never discriminate among people on the grounds of caste, sex, religion and race
(Asiapacific.unwomen.org (2018). Despite the fact that the Indian government has taken
numerous measures to secure the position of women in the Indian society, there are instances
of open discrimination (Deep 2017). These laws though mend to cater the needs of the
women in India actually do not reach the victims spell in the rural region where the violence
against the women is recorded to be the highest. There is a huge gap between the theory and
practice (Pande 2018). In some cases, the women are given special rights in compared to men
but these rights are least beneficial to these women. There are more than 15 human rights

20VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN
presents in the Indian constitution to prevent violence against women whether she is a widow
or not. some of these are:
 Right to equality
 Right to live with dignity
 Right to liberty
 Right to education
 Right to property
 Right to protection of health
 Right to livelihood
 Right to social protection in the eventuality of retirement, old age and sickness
 Right to protection from society, state and family system.
Despite the fact that human rights are limited rights that are compulsorily obtainable
by each person as he is the part of the Indian society but the rights of the women especially of
the widows are being violated in one or the other way. In order to secure the widows of this
country from such discrimination n exploitation, the government therefore, the widows are
provided with some very essential rights. These are
 Widow remarriage act
 Protection of women from domestic violence act
 Property act
Moreover, the government of India has issued some welfare schemes for the widows
through National Social Assistance Programs (Womenwelfare.org 2018). Under these
schemes, the eligible widows are given pensions, the children of widows get scholarships and
government helps these widows financially for their daughter’s marriage (Ansari 2018). The
UN Women’s study has also highlighted that the widows in India are not homogeneous

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group. The sufferings may be constant with living at their situation keeps on changing
considerably with their age, geographical location, socio- cultural practices, their educational
levels and most importantly the power and fame of their husbands (Agrawal and Keshri
2014). This is the reason why there are obligation of human rights against the widows can be
seen.
According to the acts issued by the Indian constitution, the widows can remarry but
the social customs and traditions often push them to lead a life of desolation and austerity. In
the colonial period, the tradition of maintaining chastity for the high-class widows were
mandatory whereas the lower caste widows used to remarry but now the government had
passed the act that any widow in the country can remarry whenever she wants and she cannot
be abused or tortured by others (Pande 2018). In the urban areas, the young widows are found
to remarry after few years but in rural areas the strict rule are followed by the religious heads
or village communities. The issue of remarriage has different facets when it comes to the
point of difference in religion. The Islam allow their widows to remarry but Hinduism does
not (Ansari 2018). as mentioned before, the lower caste widows find their ways by
remarrying whom they prefer but the brahmin or higher-class widows re sent to the ashrams
to suffer the dark life in desolation.
Right to property:
According to the Section 10 of The Hindu Succession Act, 1956, the share of the
property of the dead husband will be inherited by the widow of that person in this case, there
can be more than one widow of a person, then the share of the property will be distributed
among the widows (Indiankanoon.org 2018). In case the person has a son, then according to
the provision of rule 1 of section 10, the son will get one half and another half will be
possessed by the widows. The amendment of this property rights has introduced another

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aspect in support of the widows. In the year 2008, Indian Supreme court has decided for
empowering the widows more as it was the need of time (Gupta and Sekher 2018). The
decision was that those widows who decide to remarry will also get the share of their ex-
husband’s property. These widows cannot be deprived of the share in their dead husbands’
property. This is due to the fact that the widow is an absolute possessor of her deceased
husband’s property to the extent of her share as the provisions of the Hindu Succession Act
1956 (Dey 2018). Thus, the Supreme Court had observed a great change in years of tradition
to exploitation of the widows. The Hindu Succession Act along with remarriage act brought
about an unthinkable change in the Shastric Hindu laws and thus aimed to make the Hindu
widows more eligible as well as equal in matters of inheritance as well as succession similar
to the male heirs. The Supreme Court of India held that the section 4 of Hindu Marriage Act
will be having an overriding effect over any Hindu laws including Hindu Widow’s
Remarriage Act of 1956 (Indiankanoon.org 2018 ), (Agrawal and Keshri 2014).
The colonial time has been benign for making decision in support of the widows in
India. After the pressers from the Indian reformers like Raja Rammohan Roy and Vidyasagar,
the British government had passed Hindu Widow’s Remarriage Act in 1856 which has been
followed till today in India (Dey 2018). Now Hindu remarriage act have some key issues as
the families of the dead person do not allow the widow to remarry. The reason why some
groups do not support remarriage is associated with the property of the dead husband. By
restricting the widow remarriage, the high-status groups of India aim to limit reshuffle of
lineage after death of the male member and these restrictions basically come from the other
family members or the in-laws of the widows (Agrawal and Keshri 2014). According to the
property or Hindu Succession Act 1956, the widow if remains unmarried legitimately
becomes the first member of the dead husband's lineage, and she will not face any type of
competing ties with other groups of her in-laws. The widow legitimately rights to the

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property of her husband. This is traditionally limited though her in-laws are to the
management rather than outright inheritance. Now in case she marries someone else, the
property as of her, will be the part of her living husband’s. Therefore, the family members try
to dissuade the widow getting remarried for their own interest.
Changing scenario:
National Human Rights Commission and National Commission for Women in India
have been taking positive steps for maintaining the human rights situation in India. In
conjunction with the recent ratification of the United Nations Convention to eliminate all
forms of discrimination against widows in India, the commissions provide effective forum for
these women. The scholar like Mastey (2009), in his study has discussed the aspect of the
women employment in the Indian subcontinent. He has collected data from different ashrams
situated in Northern India mainly focusing on the situation of the widows in these homes.
This study is based on the narratives of the women in these homes (Gupta and Sekher 2018).
The author has identified that there are different types of NGOs are working in such ashrams
in order to empower the widows whom their own families have discarded. These women are
actually undergoing tremendous physical and psychological pressure as there are rituals to be
observed by these widows in one hand, and the feelings of losing everything in life and then
turning around is not so easy for these women. This is the reason why the NGOs are taking
initiatives to utilize this human force of the society (Bhattacharyya and Singh 2018). These
NGOs along with United Nations have initiated to prove these widows in ashrams to provide
vocational training for developing skills. These disadvantaged widows are given training to
care nursing, retail and hospitality sector so that they can be utilized in the arrested
employment opportunities for them.

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One of the main concerns of this NGOs are the poverty under which these widows
survive and suffer. The concern is mainly due to the fact that this poverty of widows has been
becoming the global tragedy as these widows are the victims of double discrimination in the
third world countries like India. This is due to the fact that the widowhood has a religious
connotation hence the situation gets more complicated (Mishra, Shekhar and Gouda 2016).
The double discrimination is clearer as they are woman secondly, they are widows. They are
actually the cursed women who have lost their men, their protector hence must be ward off
from their houses. Thus, these widows are marginalized, abused and exploited at every level
of their survival (Bhattacharyya and Singh 2018). The international organizations also have
recognized the stigma around this phase of living hence trying to secure a greater global
attention to this issue.
The government of different states along with the widows are aiming to empower
these widows economically hence the foundation work has started by providing some
assistance to these widows. In some states there are schemes under which the widows are
provided with sewing machines so that they can be employed in the garment factories, the
largest industry in India. In addition to this, some of the NGOs in the southern India are
arranging interest free small loans so that they can start their own business (Mishra, Shekhar
and Gouda 2016). These beneficiaries are handpicked from slums or homes to focus in the
employment of the widows. These are the reasons why, the researchers, examining the
situation of the widows in the urban India, have founded that these women are responding in
support of visiting in the homes or ashrams as they are provided with various types of
empowerment programs for personal development (Bhattacharyya and Singh 2018). Through
these programs, remedies of widowhood are obtained in one hand and policies and issues
regarding women are brought forward to be discussed. In addition to these the gourmet of

25VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN
India has issued pension plan for the eligible widows which are effective for meeting the
needs of the older widows living away from their families.

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Chapter 3
Research methodology
3.0 Introduction
Research methodology is being considered as the systematic process to reach the
solution of the problem. The third chapter is the research methodology, which is an important
part of a research project. In this chapter, the research methods, which have been used for
conducting the research project is being discussed.
3.1 Research Philosophy
As stated by Humphries (2017), research philosophy helps to gain the knowledge and
dimension of the research project. By collecting the basic facts, concepts as well as
knowledge, the entire research study is being conducted. It has been identified that the
research philosophy can be classified in to two parts. Epistemology and ontology. Knowledge
is being referred by epistemology and reality is being referred through ontology (Fletcher
2017). In this study others, philosophical aspects have also been highlighted. Phenomenology
and axiology are another two important aspects of research philosophy. Many of the
researchers have provided their argumentative opinion regarding the development of the
research philosophy. According to Cuervo‐Cazurra et al. (2017), research philosophy can be
classified in to three parts. Positivism, post-positivism and realism are the three important
aspects of research philosophy. In this study, if the paradigm is being analyzed, it will be
identified that this research follows the epistemology paradigm. Positivism refers to the
evaluation of the various philosophical aspects, in this case, the reality is being utilized in the
proper manner. On the other hand, in the case of post-positivism, the selected information
and data is being cross-checked for conducting the research. The process of post-positivism is
being considered as the process, in which the previous knowledge is being analyzed. By

27VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN
maintaining the clarity of the research, the post-positivism helps to reach at the end of the
research.
3.1.1 Justification for selected research philosophy
In order to conduct the research post-positivism research philosophy has been chosen.
As the post-positivism helps to reach at the end of the research through observation and
evidence and the research topic is based on both the practical and theatrical perspective,
therefore, by using this research approach, the study can be conducted in an advanced
manner. By cross-checking all the information, this research philosophy will justify the
research topic.
3.2 Research Approach
As stated by Cuervo‐Cazurra et al. (2017), the research approach can be classified
into two parts those are the deductive and inductive approach. Deductive research is being
developed on the basis of the previous researches. On the other hand, in the case of inductive
research, the business analysis can be done based on new models and theories.
3.2.1 Justification for the chosen research approach
In order to conduct this research, the deductive research approach has been followed.
Depending on the previous theories and models, the study has reached the solution.
Therefore, this can be said that by applying the deductive research approach, the study has
utilized the theories and models for achieving its ultimate goal.
3.3 Research design
Three types of research design have been highlighted in this study. Explanatory,
exploratory and descriptive are the three types of research purpose. According to Elgort
(2018), research design is being considered as the systematic approach by following, which
the research project can be developed in a structured way. By supporting this Bilau, Witt and

28VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN
Lill (2018) stated that by choosing appropriate research design, the goals and objectives
become easier to achieve. In the case of exploratory research design, the problem related to
the situation is being identified with clarity. This process helps to gather the benefits
regarding the situation. On the other hand, in the case of
In the words of Cuervo‐Cazurra et al. (2017), descriptive research design, the research
is being introduced with detail information and relevant evidence. In this research design, the
additional information and knowledge related to the topic are being analyzed. In the case of
explanatory research design, the modern ideas are being analyzed by highlighting it’s both
the positive and negative impacts.
3.3.1 Justification for selected research purpose
In order to conduct the research, descriptive research design has been chosen. It can
be said that following this research design, the exploration of research issues can be identified
and explained in an appropriate manner. Descriptive research design can be able to gather the
effective information related to this topic.
3.4 Data collection process
There are two types of data sources. One is primary, and another is secondary data
collection. In the case of primary data, the interviews and surveys are being conducted
(O'Brien and Pipkin 2017). On the other hand, in the case of secondary data, from the
previous researches, journals, articles and others authentic sources the secondary data is being
collected. In order to conduct this research, both the primary and secondary data collection
methods have been used. In the case of primary data collection interview and survey both
have been done online and over skype.

29VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN
3.5 Data Analysis techniques
There are two types of data. Qualitative and quantitative. In the case of qualitative
data collection. Both of these data collection processes can be used for both types of
qualitative and quantitative data collection methods. Qualitative data provides the detail
information, and qualitative data provides the numerical information (Bourque and Bourdon
2017). Through the interview process, the qualitative data has been collected.
Sampling technique and accessibility issues
There are two types of sampling techniques. One is non-profitability another is
profitability. In the case of non-probability sampling technique, the information or samples
are being gathered with the process the entire population do not get equal chance to
participate (Lalić and Pope 2018). On the other hand, in the case of probability sampling
techniques, the equal chance is being provided to the population. Among the entire widow
ashrams, the researcher has randomly chosen few widows and has conducted the survey. In
order to conduct the research, the probability sampling technique has been chosen. Total
numbers of 100 windows have been selected for conducting the survey. With the total
number of 3 Human rights authority persons, the interview has been conducted. In order to
gather the relevant data from the Human rights authorities, different types of disappointing
behavior have been faced by the researcher. Due to the electronic error, some of the
information has not been gathered. On the other hand, in order to get the appointment, the
researcher has lost too much time, which has affected the research time.
3.6 Ethical consideration
Ethical consideration is being considered as one of the important parts of every research
project. In this process, the participants who have been selected for the survey and interview
practices, their details are needed to be confidentially maintained (Johnson, Gibbs Grey and

30VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN
Baker-Bell 2017). None of the participant names should be published in the project without
their permission. As per the data protection act, the author should add the references from
which the data have been gathered. None of the information can be copied from any journals
or articles without proper references. On the other hand, the statistical data should be
collected from the authentic sources. None of the participants will be forced to join the
research project. At any time, the participants can withdraw their support from the research
project (Lalić and Pope 2018). The researcher cannot use any kind of company logo or other
sign in the research paper; it should be an individual project.
3.7 Research limitation
In this research, the major limitation is the time duration and budget. The research articles
and journals which are required for completion of the research are quite expensive. As its
result, it has become tough for purchasing those journals. On the other hand, 6 months have
been allocated for completing the entire project, which is not sufficient for comparing the
context. If the researcher is provided efficient time, this will be better for completing the
project in a proper manner. It has also been identified that as religious issues in India have
brought different challenges for the researcher.
3.8 Research Timeframe
Main activities/ stages Month
January
Month
February
Month
March
Month
April
Month
May
Month
June
Selection of the topic 
Collecting data from the
secondary sources
 

31VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN
Outlining design of the
research project

Literature review   
Designing the research
plan
 
Selecting the proper
research techniques
 
Collecting the primary
data
 
Data analysis process and
interpretation
 
Summary of the research 
Creating the draft 
Submission of the research
assignment

Figure: Gantt chart
3.9 Summary:
In the above chapter, it has been identified that different types of data have been collected
through the primary and secondary data collection methods. Both the qualitative and
quantitat9ve data have been collected. In this research, the appropriate research philosophies,
research approaches and research analysis techniques have been measured.

32VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN

33VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN
Chapter 4
Analysis and Findings
4.0. Introduction:
Chapter four is an important part of a research project. In this chapter, the finding and
analysis of the entire project are being done. The research has been conducted depending on
both the qualitative and quantitative data analysis methods. Through the interview and survey
techniques, the information regarding the topic has been collected. The interview survey was
done on the 3 managers of Human rights management authorities and survey on 100 widows
in Vrindavan.
4.1 Quantitative analysis (for widows)
Q1. How long have you been in Vrindavan?
Options No of
respondents
Total
respondents
Response %
Last 1 week 10 100 10%
Last 1 month 10 100 10%
Last 1 year 20 100 20%
More than 2 years 10 100 10%
More than 5 years 50 100 50%
Table 1: Widows in Vrindavan
Findings:

34VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN
In the above table, the data regarding the availability of widows and how long they are
staying in Vrindavan have been collected. It has been identified in this study that the 10
widows among the 100 widows have joined in the Vrindavan Ashram. 10 among 100 have
crossed 1 month in this place. On the other hand, 20 among 100 are living in Vrindavan for 1
year. 10 widows out of 100 widows are living here for 2 years. Therefore, are many people
who live here for more than 5 years. From the collected data it has been identified that the 50
widows among 100 respondents live in Vrindavan for more than 5 years.
Analysis:
In the above collected information and data, it has been identified that the availability
of widows in the Vrindavan ashram has increased. Due to the social rituals and society
barriers, the large number of widows have got their shelter in such ashrams in Vrindavan. On
the other hand, it has also been identified that every week, new people come to the ashram. A
large number of widows are living in the ashrams for a long time. Therefore, this can be said
from long times they are being rejected by their families.
Q2. What you do for surviving here?
Options No of
respondents
Total
respondents
Response %
Beggar 70 100 70%
Prostitution 20 100 20%
Maidservant 10 100 10%
Table 2: Occupation of survival
Findings:

35VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN
In the above table, the information regarding the occupation of the widows in Vrindavan has
been highlighted it has been identified that among 100 widows 70 widows have chosen
beggary as their occupation. On the other hand, from the above table, it has also been
identified that hat among 100 widows the 20 % of women have chosen prostitution as the
way of survival. Near about 10% of the respondent have agreed that they work as a
maidservant for surviving in this city.
Analysis:
In the above finding, it has been identified that occupation has become one of the major
issues for these people. In order to survive in the city, a large number of widows have chosen
prostitution as their occupation. It is clear that a large number of young women, who have
been detached from their family and relatives take shelter in the Vrindavan Ashram. Due to
the increasing number of populations, it becomes harder for them to survive in this place.
Therefore, from the survey, it has been identified that the financial situation of the widows is
really poor. On the other hand, it has also been deified that they are not being accepted by the
society. As its result, they involve themselves in such professions.
Q3. How many of you have come across with the service provided by the NGOs or know
that actually they do?
Options No of
respondents
Total
respondents
Response %
Yes 35 100 35%
No 50 100 50%
Neutral 15 100 15%

36VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN
Table 3: Awareness about NGO activities
Findings:
In the above table, it has been identified that the among 100 respondents 35 numbers of
widows have agreed that they are aware of the activities of NGO, they have also agreed that
they have also experienced the benefits from the NGP activities. 50% of the total respondents
have disagreed that they have never come across with the NGP services. 15% of the total
respondents have given their neutral reaction.
Analysis:
After getting the information, this can be said that although different NGOs have taken the
initiatives to come closer with the widows in Vrindavan, a large number of them are not
totally aware of the activities of the NGOs. This can be said that due to lack of information
and educational support, the initiatives of NGOs have not been succeeded. This can also be
said that due to the social situation of widows make them detached from the external
activities. A large number of widows have said that they are not aware of the activities of
widows, therefore, it can be said that lack of interaction with the external environment creates
such situations.
Q4. Do your family members come to visit you?
Options No of
respondents
Total
respondents
Response %
Frequently 5 100 5%
Rare 20 100 20%
Very rare 25 100 25%
Never 50 100 50%

37VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN
Table 4: Meeting with families
Findings:
In the above table, it has been identified that only 5% of the total respondents visit their
families frequently. On the other hand, 20 widows among the total respondents have said that
rarely they meet with their families. 25% of the respondents have said that the rate of visiting
with family members is very rare. It is surprising that near about 50% of the total respondents
have said that after coming into the Vrindavan ashram, their family members never came to
visit them.
Analysis:
In the above finding, it has been identified that a large number of widows have become
detached from their families for a long time. After coming to this ashram, most of the family
members have not visited them. From this information, the crucial part of the society is being
shown. In this analysis, it has been identified that not only from the society, but also
negligence from the family members has created emotional berries for the widows.
Q5. Have you faced any kind of violence from family?
Options No of
respondents
Total
respondents
Response %
Frequently 70 100 70%
Rare 10 100 10%
Very rare 15 100 15%

38VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN
Never 5 100 5%
Table 5: Violence from family
Findings:
In the above table. It has been identified that among 100 respondents, 70% of the respondents
have said that they have experienced violence from their family members. 10 of the widows
said that they have rarely faced the violence from their family and 15% of the total
respondents have said that very rare they have experienced such situations. 5% of the total
respondents have mentioned that they have never experienced such a situation.
Analysis:
In the above findings, this can be clearly said that a large number of widows have faced
violence from their families after the death of their husband. It has been identified that in
India, a large number of widows are sexually abused by their own family members. As the
widows are being treated as a burden, therefore they are sexually threatened up by their
families. Another way, it can be said that due to the orthodox beliefs, the widows are being
abused by their family.
Q6: Have you ever faced threats to be forced labor or prostitution?
Options No of
respondents
Total
respondents
Response %
Agreed 25 100 25%
Disagreed 15 100 15%
Strongly agreed 60 100 60%
Table 6: Ever faced threats

39VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN
Findings:
In the above table it has been identified that among 100 widows, 25 respondents have agreed
that they have faced threats to join in prostitution and labor force. 15 widows among 100
widows have disagreed in this case. On the other hand, it has been identified that the 60% of
the total respondents have agreed that they have been forced in such a profession.
Analysis:
In the above findings it has been clearly shown that the due to lack of financial support, a
large number of women are being forced into the prostitution and labor profession. It has
been socially analyzed that due to the social barriers and social discriminations, the widows
are being forced to involve in such practices. In the above findings, it can be clearly said that
the after the husband's death, in the developing countries like India where the male
domination is one of the major social issues, the widows are being treated as an object. By
taking the advantages of their financial situation and other spiritual superstitious practices,
widows are being forced into prostitution.
Q7: Do you get efficient money for arranging food per day?
Options No of
respondents
Total
respondents
Response %
Frequently 10 100 10%
Rare 10 100 10%
Very rare 50 100 50%
Never 30 100 30%
Table 7: Efficient money for arranging food

40VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN
Findings:
In this above table it has been identified that among 100 widows 10 of the respondents have
said that they frequently get efficient money for arranging their food. Among 100 widows, 10
of the widows have said that rarely they get the chance to arrange food per day. It has been
identified that 50 percent of the total respondents have said that the very rarely they get the
efficient money to arrange for survival. At the end of the table, it has been identified that the
near about 30% of the total respondents have said that they never get the chance to arrange
efficient food.
Analysis:
In the above findings it has been identified that most of the widows suffer from arranging
their food every day. Due to the lack of efficient money, many of them do not get proper food
as its result, most of them suffer from malnutrition. On the other hand, it has been identified
from the findings that the widows in Vrindavan struggle for each and every one places even
in food also. Near about 30% of the total respondents have said that they have never got
efficient money for getting the food. It means they have never got a sufficient amount of
food, which is required to live a healthy life.
Q8: Religious rituals whether followed willingly?
Options No of
respondents
Total
respondents
Response %
Yes 15 100 15%
No 45 100 45%
Neutral 40 100 40%

41VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN
Table 8: Religious rituals
Findings:
In the above table it has been identified that among 100 respondents 15 of the widows have
said that they have done willingly followed the rituals. Among the 100 respondents 45 of the
respondents have mentioned that they have followed the rituals unwillingly. On the other
hand, 40 respondents have given their neutral reactions about this matter.
Analysis:
In the above table it has been identified that there are various religious rituals those are being
practiced on the widows. If the widow rituals in India is being analyzed, it will be identified
that wearing white saree after husband death, untouchability, forbidden vanity and abstinence
are the cruel rituals which are being practiced on the widows. Sati is one of the famous rituals
which is being considered as the old social evil. Due to such rituals, the widows get
physically and emotionally weak. Although in the 19th century, the practices of Sato have
demolished, but the other rituals are still pathetic which are being forced on the widows by
the society. Due to such social torture, a large number of widows have mentioned that they
unwilling followed such rituals as they were being forced. On the other hand, it has also been
identified that the 40% of the total respondents have given the neutral reaction. After getting
such reactions, it can also be said that the initiatives can be said that most of the times due to
pressure from society, the large number of widows hide their situations from others, which
also indicates the pathetic condition of them.
Q9. Have you got the basic education?
Options No of
respondents
Total
respondents
Response %

42VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN
Yes 25 100 25%
No 75 100 75%
Table 9: Basic education
Findings:
In the above table it has been identified that among 100 respondents, 25 of them have basic
education. On the other hand, among 100 respondents 75 of the widows have agreed that they
do not have any kind of educational facility.
Analysis:
In the above findings, the educational qualification of the widows has been mentioned. From
the above table, it can be clearly identified that the in the case of India, the widow's education
has become an important issue. As India is being considered as the dominating male country,
therefore, people do not give their attention towards widow education. On the other hand, in
most of the cases widows are being detached intentionally from the education so that they
will not be able to fight for their own right. Before the 19th century, women were not being
provided with any kind of educational facilities as a rule was set by the dominating male
society. Most of the widows who live in Vrindavan are aged and staying there for a long
period. In this stage, when they are being treated as an object, the widows have also lost their
interest towards education. It has also been identified that when the NGO workers show their
intention for providing education, the social barriers and ritual obstacle make the widows out
from this.
Q10: Do you aware of your human rights?
Options No of Total Response %

43VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN
respondents respondents
Yes 20 100 20%
No 70 100 70%
Neutral 10 100 10%
Table 10: Awareness regarding human rights
Findings:
In the above table it has been identified that among the 100 respondents 20 respondents have
said that they are aware of human rights. Among total 100 respondents 70 % of the widows
have mentioned that they are not aware of the human rights. 10 % of the total respondents
have given their neutral reaction. From the
Analysis:
In this study, it has been identified that the large numbers of widows in Vrindavan are not
aware of their human rights. The human right influences the social justice, democracy, peace
and educational right. From the table no 9, it has been identified that the lack of basis
education among the respondents is an important issue in Vrindavan. Due to lack of
education, they do not get the chance to gather knowledge regarding their human rights. On
the other hand, it is also true that dominating male society is another important cause of this
situation. From this study, it can be analyzed that information regarding the human rights are
being hidden from the widows, so that they cannot raise their voice or they cannot fight for
their rights. A large number of widows who live in Vrindavan are aged, in this situation, it
also becomes harder for them to take any step against the illegal practices which are being
done for long times.

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Q11: Have you got any kind of help from the government?
Options No of
respondents
Total
respondents
Response %
Frequently 20 100 20%
Rare 30 100 30%
Very rare 20 100 20%
Never 30 100 30%
Table 11: Help from the government
Findings:
In this above table it has been identified that from the 100 respondents, 20 respondents have
said that they get help from the government frequently. Among 100 respondents 30
respondents have mentioned that they rarely get the help from the government. 20% of the
entire respondents have said that they get help from the government very rarely. At the end of
the table, of the 100 respondents, 30% of the respondents have said that they have never got
any kind of help from the government.
Analysis:
In the above findings, it has been identified that most of the respondents have said that they
rarely get the help from the Indian government. On the other hand, from the secondary
research, it has been identified that although the government claimed that they had taken
various initiatives for improving the situation of the widows, it can be said that many of the
governmental initiatives do not reach to them. From the above table it has been identified that
the rate of government initiatives is also very poor compared to its necessity is very low. If

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the government does not focus on providing the effective service to the widows, they will
never be able to fight for their rights.
Q12: Have you got any kind of financial help from the non-governmental organization?
Options No of
respondents
Total
respondents
Response %
Frequently 40 100 40%
Rare 30 100 30%
Very rare 20 100 20%
Never 10 100 10%
Table 12: Financial help from the government
Findings:
In this table it has been identified that among 100 respondents, 40 of the respondents have
mentioned that they frequently get the financial help from the non-governmental
organizations. Of the 100 respondents, 30% of the respondents have mentioned that they
rarely get financial help from the non-governmental organizations. It has also been identified
that among 100 respondents 20% of the widows have said that very rarely they get financial
help and 10% of the respondents have said that they never got any kind of financial help from
the non-governmental organizations.
Analysis:
In the findings it has been identified that a large number of widows have agreed that they get
financial help from the non-governmental organizations. It means in these areas like
Vrindavan the influence of nongovernmental organizations is quite higher compared to the

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governmental organizations. It has also been analyzed that the non-governmental
organizations have also taken various initiatives for improving the situation of widows. It has
been identified that different types of health care facilities, food and others facilities are being
provided by the NGOs.
Q13: Do you want to return to your families?
Options No of
respondents
Total
respondents
Response %
Yes 40 100 40%
No 50 100 50%
Neutral 10 100 10%
Table 13: Want to return to families
Findings:
In the above table it has been identified that among 100 respondents, 40% of the total
respondents have mentioned that they want to return to their families. On the other hand,
among the 100 respondents 50% of the respondents have said that they do not want to go
back to their families. 10% of the total respondents have given the neutral reaction.
Analysis:
In this study, it has been identified that a large number of respondents have said that they do
not want to return back to their families. In the above findings it has clearly mentioned that a
large number of widows have faced various disappointing behavior from their families. On
the other hand, it has also been identified that in the dominating male society the widows are
being considered a burden for their families. In most of the cases they face different types of

47VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN
psychical tortures from their families. In this study it has also been mentioned that a large
number of widows have mentioned that after started living in Vrindavan, their family
members have not come to visit them. In this case it has been analyzed that after getting both
the physical and emotional tortures, the widows do not want to return back to their families.
Q14: Whether thought about remarriage?
Options No of
respondents
Total
respondents
Response %
Yes 40 100 40%
No 50 100 50%
Neutral 10 100 10%
Table 14: Thought about remarriage
Findings:
In this study, it has been identified that among the 100 respondents 40% of the total
respondents have mentioned that they have through of remarriage after their husband's death.
Among the 100 respondents 50% of the total respondents have mentioned that they have
never thought about remarriage. On the other hand, among the 100 respondents, 10 of the
respondents have given the neutral reaction.
Analysis:
In the above findings it has been identified that a large number of widows have mentioned
that they have mentioned that they have never thought about remarriage. After analyzing the
entire situation, it has been identified that due to the physical and mental torture from their
families, they have lost their living spirit. On the other hand, due to the external pressure they
have not through about remarriage.

48VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN
4.2 Qualitative research
Interview
First person
Question: What kind of issues you have identified with the widows?
Answer: I believe, there are various types of tragic widow traditions, which have created
different types of issues for the widows. Orthodox belief, sexual abuse, lack of education and
lack of health support are a major problem in Vrindavan. Due to such issues, the widows are
being forced to involve in beggary, prostitution and labor forces.
Question: What kind of initiatives you have taken for improving the situation of these
widows?
Answer: In order to improve the situation of the widows, I have decided to the basic
educational facility so that they will be aware of their rights. I have also decided to introduce
different occupational options, so that they will come out from beggary. In the Vrindavan
ashram, the large number of widows die due to lack of proper treatment, I have decided to
provide free health care facilities so that we can save their life.
Question: Do you provide financial help to the victims? If yes then directly or
indirectly?
Answer: Yes of course. The financial situation of the widows is not unclear to us. We are
totally aware of their daily food crisis. Sometimes directly, but most of the times we provide
the financial help through the non-governmental organizations.
Question: What is your opinion regarding the increasing number of children in
Vrindavan?
Answer: It is very shameful for us that the children are also being victimized due to the
social cruelty. It has been identified that widows are being thrown by their laws with their
children so that they cannot claim for their paternal property. Prostitution is one of the
occupations in Vrindavan. This is also another reason for the increasing number of children
in Vrindavan.

49VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN
Question: As per your opinion, what are the major causes behind such a situation and
how it can be solved?
Answer: I believe, our dominating male society is the major cause of such situations. In most
of the cases after husband's death, the women lose their identity and being treated as an
object. In this case I will definitely raise my finger at these points. In order to deal with the
situation social awareness is required.
Question: Should they take a step for their own right?
Answer: I believe, no one can help us until we try to help ourselves. In order to deal with this
situation, women need to focus on educating themselves so that they will fight for their own
rights.
Interview
Second Person
Question: What kind of issues you have identified with the widows?
Answer: It has been identified by me that social cruelty is the biggest issue among the
widows. Lack of education and social security are the major issues faced by the widows.
Different religious rituals and social barriers have created various problems in the widows’
life.
Question: What kind of initiatives you have taken for improving the situation of these
widows?
Answer: Different initiatives have been taken by the government however due to lack of
proper communication with the widows most of the initiatives have faced failure. For
informing them regarding the human rights, different campaigns have been introduced.
Question: Do you provide financial help to the victims? If yes then directly or
indirectly?
Answer: We have not directly provided the financial help. By providing foods, healthy safety
and educational support, we have tried to improve their situation. Through different non-
governmental organizations, we have tried to change their situation.

50VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN
Question: What is your opinion regarding the increasing number of children in
Vrindavan?
Answer: I believe, prostitution and rejection from the family members are the major reason
for the increasing number of children. The children who are being thrown by their families,
they take shelter in this ashram. However, it is true that the previously large number of girl
widows were being brought to the ashrams.
Question: As per your opinion, what are the major causes behind such a situation and
how it can be solved?
Answer: Social discrimination and torture from the close ones are the major reason behind
this situation. It has been identified by me that in order to deal with the social issues, social
awareness is required. By improving the position of women in our society the issue can be
solved.
Question: Should they take a step for their own right?
Answer: They should focus on educating themselves and raise their voice against the tortures
they face. By interacting with the government representatives and discussing their problems,
they will be able to come in the limelight.
Interview
Third person
Question: What kind of issues you have identified with the widows?
Answer: I believe, different types of terrible widow customs have formed various issues for
the widows live in Vrindavan. Sexual abuse, orthodox belief, improper education are main
problems in Vrindavan Ashrams. I have identified that due to lack of financial supports
widows involve in beggary, prostitution and labor force.
Question: What kind of initiatives you have taken for improving the situation of these
widows?
Answer: For improving the situation of widows in Vrindavan, it has been decided by our
department that we will provide educational opportunities. This will help to increase

51VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN
awareness about their human rights. It has also decided by us that if others occupational
options will be provided to them, them the financial issue can be solved. In the Vrindavan
ashram, lack of health care facilities is another important issue. Therefore, we have decided
to provide the facilities regarding health care.
Question: Do you provide financial help to the victims? If yes then directly or
indirectly?
Answer: Financial help are being provided to the victims through different NGOs. As most
of the victims have a negative impression about the government and due to this reason, they
do not interact much with the government representatives. Due to this reason we provide the
financial help through the NGOs.
Question: What is your opinion regarding the increasing number of children in
Vrindavan?
Answer: In the current situation the availability of children in the Ashrams have increased.
Due to this reason most of them are being involved in beggary. Rejection from family and
prostitution is the major reason behind this type of situations.
Question: As per your opinion, what are the major causes behind such a situation and
how it can be solved?
Answer: The structure of our society and gender discriminations are the major cause behind
the situation. I also believe, widows are also responsible for their situations. It is really sad
that most of the times when we try to interact with them they hide their problems. On the
other hand, it is also true that they have lost their hopes for the better life. Lack of initiatives
and depression are also responsible for this.
Question: Should they take a step for their own right?
Answer: As per my opinion, widows should raise their voice against the orthodox rituals. If
they take an active step, this will motivate us to increase their power. They should be more
supportive towards the government representatives and should be more interactive so that we
can help them.

52VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN
Summary:
In this chapter quantitative and qualitative both the research methods have been used. From
the gathered information it has been identified that the social cruelty is the biggest issue
behind the pathetic situation of Vrindavan Widows.
Chapter 5
Conclusion and Recommendation
5.0. Conclusion:
This dissertation has been dealt with the concept of violation of human rights of
Widows in India. For this purpose, the researcher has taken Vrindavan as the center of
research. In this paper the researcher has analyzed Vrindavan as the center of the research.
The situation of widows in a particular area and judge them in contrast of the other places
where the cases of widow discrimination and exploration have been found. This paper has
discussed the situation of widows before the colonial era and contrasted them with the current
situation. It can be concluded, whatever the time or ruling party is the situation of widows has
not changed at all. From years they have been discriminated as woman who are responsible
for their husband’s death hence targeted as the weakest individuals in the society. They are
burnt in the pyre, killed in the name of religion, starved to pray for the wellbeing of their dead

53VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN
husband. They are victimized throughout the lives by the family members as well as the
heads of Ashrams where they are sent by their families to die of desolation.
The researcher has collected information from the various levels of the society
through reviewing literature, conducting interviews and surveys and judged them with the
actual situation of widows in a particular place. This paper analyses various rights and acts
issued by the government of India for the securing the interests of the widows but most of
these acts are in vain as the NGOs or government policies cannot reach the dark lives of these
women. They remain derived of their rights and all the necessities or luxuries of life.
5.1. Linking with objective:
Objective 1. To evaluate the actual situation of the widows in India
The researcher has linked this objective with relevant literatures for finding out the actual
situations of the widows in India and in doing so the researcher has analyzed various
literature in relation with this issue as well as conducted interviews with the higher authorities
of NGOs presently working on these field. In this 21st century also they are seen as
responsibility or liability of the family and often termed as husband eaters or cursed one. In
the states of the Northern India these issues are more pathetic. In the society the place of
widow is like that of a beast of burden hence neither can change situation themselves nor
spend life like this. They face discrimination, religious obligation and exploitation from the
people around them. These literatures also demonstrate the widows before colonial time
where sent to be burnt in the funeral pyre with their husband. It is due to the fact that the
religious heads wanted to capture their property. After the system of Sati was banned by the
British government, these widows were sent to the Ashram to lead a religious and pure life.
The survey on the widows have pointed out that many them are victims of child
marriage hence do not get basic education or trainings for self-development. They face

54VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN
double discrimination. One for being a woman and another is for being widow. This is why
the rate of mortality of women in India is so high. these deaths were out of malnutrition or ill-
treatment. In recent time the situation of these widows has deteriorated much. The survey on
these widows in Vrindavan reveals the situation have gone worst as the Ashram authority
employ these young widows in serving the wealthy or powerful pilgrims. A huge portion of
these widows are found to be victims of human traffic in the foreign countries as they have
nobody to take care. Most of the widows here are victims of family violence hence forced to
prostitution and these ashrams are also not a better pace for them. Here the old widows are
forced to beg to meet their days end and very few of them observe the religious rituals very
willingly. The human rights authority and NGOs though working to serve these women but
70% of these victims have not get any help from these programs.
Objective 2. To evaluate the implication of human rights in preventing violence
The researcher has analyzed several factors those have impacted upon the
improvement of the situation of these widows. In researching on the recent developments, the
researcher has conducted interview with the authority of human rights and heads of some
NGOs which are working currently in developing the lives of these widows living in
Vrindavan Ashrams. The Government of India in the constitution have referred to provide
right to equality which is very much relevant to serve the interests of these widows. These
rights include right to Liberty right to education property and protection of health. These
NGOs along with government programs are working on reaching these helpless women. In
addition to this the government has also taken initiatives to give securities to these widows
from exploitation and discrimination prevalent in the current social system. These acts
include widow remarriage act and property act so that they can be saved from the family
violence. In order to get the best result, the researcher has conducted an interview with the
authority of the NGOs who are currently working on the governmental programs and

55VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN
implementing them to help the widows in this area. According to these interviews, the
women staying in this city are basically victims of orthodox beliefs, sexual abuses and
outcastes from the society. These NGOs are working to help these women by giving financial
and emotional help so that these women can develop themselves or get trained to be get
employment in the small firms. The chief aim of these NGOs is to reach these women and get
them know what are the rights for them and enhance the mental strength of these women to
go against social stigma rather suffering. To these interviewees the situation has changed a lot
and these women are deciding to stay in these homes rather going back to their families
again.
5.2. Recommendation:
Inaccessibility to reach the actual victims and interview them
The field of this research is huge as the number of victims is great. Each of the victims have
different background and different story to share. Moreover, the pattern of suffering is
different according to the place and age. There has been a huge problem in conducting
interviews or collecting data from the serves of these widows. This is due to the fact that
these widows are inaccessible and leave in dissolution in the Ashrams of Vrindavan. They are
not allowed to encourage any of the researches over them as this can hamper the purity or
chastity of their minds. The ashram gurus do not allow them to work outside hence they are
unavailable to contact. In the norther part of India, the widows are not allowed to talk with
other men except their family members. Some of them are not even allowed to go out of the
house as they are accepted as cursed and harm the wellbeing of others.
Education, health and safety
In most of the cases they cannot take part in such surveys because of their inability to
read and answer those questions. These women do not have basic education to know their

56VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN
rights. Hence, they do not know what policies are there for them or what programs are
initiated to provide them the develop themselves. These women are either under the control
of these authorities or live by the means of begging or working as labor in the houses. In case
of the rest of the country this situation is more disturbing. The young widows are forced to
marry to be saved from being raped hence they do not get scope for education and enter
another cycle of suffering. Some of these women die due to lack of awareness at the time of
giving birth or out of malnutrition.
The lives of the widows in Vrindavan or other parts of India is quite disturbing as the
survey has found that most of these women are granted to be unimportant for their families or
the people around them hence do not have access to health care initiatives. Most of the Hindu
widows are victims of malnutrition and have no safety. Many of these old widows who
cannot work anymore are driven out of the homes and stay on the footpath. Therefore, they
do not have any safety of surviving. Poverty grab and ultimately lead them to death.
In order to overcome such problems, the government of India must be more accurate
to create any policies for the widows in India. The government must not only issue the acts
but take measures to implement them for the wellbeing of these widows. There has been a
widow remarriage act but this have no effect on the rural parts of the country. Therefore,
some initiative is mandatory to solve this eternal problem.
 Proper awareness of these already issued acts must be there and not restricted in the
papers or theoretically only. The government must pressure the communities and
various government wings to assist in proper the implementation of these laws so that
every one of these victims can be familiar with their rights. Important steps must be
taken for implementing all of the laws that are amended to facilitate the detention,
prevention as well as punishment for crime against women.

57VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN
 New acts must be issued and properly implemented regarding the basic education of
the widows so that they can be able to read and right and understand where they are
going to and what rights do they have. This will also have these women to pursue
higher studies and bring changes in the ideology prevail in the minds of widows
regarding bans and boons.
 Government need to encourage the non-governmental organizations to arrange
personal development skills for the young and workable widows so that this portion
of country’s workforce does not get wasted. Strict implementation of these schemes
and policies that the government will be providing for these women empowerment
must be done.
 Awareness camps in different part of the country especially in the rural region and the
places like Mathura and Vrindavan must be organized so that the people get aware of
the unimportance of the social and religious stigmas and taboos around the institution
of widowhood. In addition to this, the widows of these area can also become familiar
with framed schemes as well as policies mend for them only and can take benefit of
those schemes and policies.
 More research needs to be done so that the government can get proper ideas about the
actual situation and violation of human rights of widows.
 government must encourage the NGOs working in this field so that they can get
interested to reach every corner of the country and serve these women more
effectively.
5.3. Future scope of the research:
This research has bounded to the limited time frame and budget. Therefore, the future
research will be able to find more issues regarding the situation of widows in India and

58VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN
violation of human rights. Moreover, the information collected in this research will help other
researchers to take more effective steps to limit this ill treatment of widows in India.

59VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN
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7. Appendix
Quantitative
Q1. How long have you been in Vrindavan?
Q2. What you do for surviving here?
Q3. How many of you have come across with the service provided by the NGOs or know
that actually they do?
Q4. Do your family members come to visit you?
Q5. Have you faced any kind of violence from family?
Q6: Have you ever faced threats to be forced labor or prostitution?
Q7: Do you get efficient money for arranging food per day?
Q8: Religious rituals whether followed willingly?
Q9. Have you got the basic education?
Q10: Do you aware of your human rights?
Q11: Have you got any kind of help from the government?
Q12: Have you got any kind of financial help from the non-governmental organization?
Q13: Do you want to return to your families?
Q14: Whether thought about remarriage?
Qualitative
Question: What kind of issues you have identified with the widows?

67VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN
Question: What kind of initiatives you have taken for improving the situation of these
widows?
Question: Do you provide financial help to the victims? If yes then directly or
indirectly?
Question: What is your opinion regarding the increasing number of children in
Vrindavan?
Question: As per your opinion, what are the major causes behind such a situation and
how it can be solved?
Question: Should they take a step for their own right?