This International Women’s Day, our communications lead Annie Waddington-Feather takes a brief look at some of the challenges older women face across the Commonwealth and puts the spotlight on their achievements.
International Women’s Day, held annually on 8 March; the day is about celebrating women’s achievements, raising awareness about discrimination and taking action to drive gender parity.
So where are we at when it comes to older women in the Commonwealth, particularly in developing countries?
Commonwealth countries are diverse: they are among the world’s biggest, smallest, richest and poorest countries; there are 21 Commonwealth countries in Africa, 8 in Asia, 13 in Caribbean and Americas, 3 in Europe, 11 in Pacific.
There are common challenges older people face, regardless of gender and regardless of where they live; most experience some kind of decline in health and mobility, and our white paper Ageism in the Commonwealth, found people in older age face discrimination and abuses of their human rights on the basis of their age across the Commonwealth.
But there are some challenges that women face, simply by being a woman.
Economic insecurity
One of the key challenges older women in the Commonwealth face is economic insecurity. Many older women have spent their lives working in low-paying jobs or have taken time away from work to care for family members, leaving them with limited savings and retirement benefits.
Speaking to women in Malawi, and also the non-Commonwealth country Ethiopia, Age International’s report, Older Women: the hidden workforce, highlights the multiple barriers women in these countries many face when accessing their rights. This includes decent work and income security due to ageism, sexism and power structures in their local communities and wider society.
It points out ‘Current strategies do not adequately recognise the roles of older women across the globe, who carry out relentless work with little or no choice, and often without support. Although these older women make substantial contributions when it comes to paid work and unpaid care and domestic work for their families, communities and economies, the low status they hold in their communities means many do not get the support they need to live in better health and with dignity.’
In Australia, the Centre for Future Work in Australia reported last year the average woman in Australia earns one million Australian dollars (US$650k) less in their lifetime than Australian men, leading to a gender pension gap in older age.
The issue around gendered pension equity is also an issue in Canada, New Zealand, Malta and many many more countries.
Furthermore, many women across the Commonwealth juggle their work with caring responsibilities.
In the UK, the Centre for Ageing Better’s report, The State of Ageing 2023-24 found almost three million people aged 50 and over are unpaid carers, with women in their 50s most likely to be providing unpaid care. Indeed, it found 20% of all women aged 50-64 are unpaid carers.
Meanwhile, the 2018 Caregiving in Sub-Saharan Africa and Older an Africa and Older, Female Caregivers in the Era of HIV/AIDS: A Namibian Perspective, (an overview of the literature with respect to what is currently known about caregivers generally and, specifically, older caregivers of orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) in sub-Saharan Africa) suggests Southern Africa remains the region most severely affected by HIV/AIDS; as a result it has the highest rates of orphanhood in the world.
‘The impact on older adult caregivers is also significant. According to Sefasi’s (2010) Zambian study, 57% of primary caregivers are grandparents. Of these, 37% were between 60 and 85 years of age. A Botswanan study found that caregiving often prevented older adults from working full-time or earning their previous level of income (Heymann & Kidman, 2009).’
While these are older studies, these changing dynamics have placed a tremendous strain on grandmothers.
The impact of widowhood
As well as the devastating loss of a partner, being a widow at any stage of life in many parts of the Commonwealth presents a new set of challenges, with many fighting for their basic rights and dignity.
The United Nations, which recognises International Widows’ Day, 23 June, says there are more than 258 million widows around the world. While the impact of war on a country will result in a disproportionate number of younger widows, in peace times, widows are generally older.
For instance, the AgeUK report You are not alone found women are around twice as likely as men to outlive their partner due to their longer average life expectancies, as well as the greater likelihood that they will be younger than their husband. The average age of being widowed is around 73 for women and 77 for men, 5% of men and 14% of women aged 65-69 are widowed and among people aged 85+, 36% of men and 77% of women are widowed.
Widows may also face economic insecurity, discrimination, stigmatisation, and harmful traditional practices simply based on their marital status.
The UN cites widows in developing countries, particularly across Africa and Asia, find themselves the victims of physical and mental violence – including sexual abuse – related to inheritance, land and property disputes.
‘Widows are coerced into participating in harmful, degrading and even life-threatening traditional practices as part of burial and mourning rites. In a number of countries, for example, widows are forced to drink the water that their husbands’ corpses have been washed in. Mourning rites may also involve sexual relations with male relatives, shaving of the hair and scarification.
Women are also much less likely to have access to pensions than men, and in some countries, they have to become dependent on the charity of their husbands’ relatives. Disowned by relatives and made homeless in countries like India, many women are forced to seek informal work as domestic labourers or turn to begging or prostitution.’
Age International also points out older widows can be seen as being ‘bad luck’; they are sometimes forbidden from attending family events or religious ceremonies.
Widows also find themselves being accused of witchcraft by people who say they murdered their partner using magic. Women who are accused of witchcraft are often violently attacked and kicked out of their homes, as ‘retribution’.
Experiencing violence
Although the data is extremely limited – Age International has bought together some sobering statistics of what we do know about violence against older women.
‘In Mozambique, 62% of older women surveyed had experienced some form of abuse in the past 6 months (2011). This broke down to: economic abuse (47%) emotional and psychological abuse (37%), witchcraft accusations (21%), physical abuse (11%) and sexual abuse (5%). Only 3 out of 10 older women officialy report such cases.
2,585 older women were killed in Tanzania in 2009 after being accused of being a witch. In Mwanza region alone, 698 older women were killed; that is two killings every two-three days.’
Celebrating success
As well as raising children, women around the Commonwealth are achieving and succeeding in many areas; indeed, the current Commonwealth Secretary-General is headed up by a woman, The Rt Hon Patricia Scotland KC!
In a previous blog post, we shared some of the inspirational life stories of older women in our ebook, A Common Wealth of Experience: Freedom fighters, child brides and other untold real life stories.
Our Board of Directors includes four female leaders from across the Commonwealth, and many of our Ambassadors are women trailblazers in their countries.
Teaming up with Girl Effect’s TEGA (Technology Enabled Girls Ambassadors) in Rwanda, and HelpAge International, we created a video to understand the challenges faced by older women, and looked at how women at every age can foster support within communities and across generations.
The theme for International Women’s Day this year is #inspireinclusion. Through our work, our vision is for an age-inclusive Commonwealth, one that is free of bias, stereotypes and discrimination.
Join us to ensure that older people are thoroughly recognised and sustained to live well in an age-inclusive Commonwealth.
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