Background

According to the World Widows Report, India has the highest number of widows in the world, numbering an estimated 46 million. Further, data from the 2011 census shows that 32% of women are in the age group of 40-59, while 58% are above 60 years. As such, widowed women suffer from a whole host of challenges, including access to employment, skill development, property rights, access to healthcare and social security, and even shelter.

Historically speaking, widowhood has been a painful experience for women, as they have been subjected to religiously and culturally endorsed stigma, which cages them into restricted lives of social isolation and material deprivation. Further, they face the risk of abandonment. Because marriage marks the end of education for most women in India, who are often married off young, they are forced to depend on familial structures for any form of support. Furthermore, the intersectional indices of age and gender worsen these vulnerabilities, as they are left susceptible to psychological and emotional neglect and are often on the brink of poverty. As such, widowed women exhibited a 20% increase in self-reported health conditions compared to married and single women of the same cohort. 

Therefore, empowering women in India through economic upskilling is an urgent need, in order to help them come out of the stasis of mourning into which they are confined. Project DAWN, therefore, seeks to facilitate greater socioeconomic integration of widowed women and ensure that they are able to find triumph through self-determination by becoming financially independent.