The Challenge – An alarming number of rural women live in dire misery, who are either widows or abandoned by their husbands including HIV+ women. They are treated as outcasts by theirs and their own husband’s families. These women with children, are thrown out, live hand-to-mouth, and are exploited. Chetana Vikas helps these women’s lives through campaigns & social action for their rights, and social and legal status. They empower women with knowledge, attitude, and skills to fight for themselves and work for economic self-reliance.

Problems faced by widows include loss of husband, no emotional/financial support, very low/no source of income, and inability to feed themselves and children

Key Facts – There are approximately 40 million widows in India, and many are abandoned, losing social and financial status, and “living off charity while they wait to die.”

Widowhood in India is considered a curse, so much so that even a widow’s shadow is considered unlucky. Although the practice of sati in India–the burning of the wife on her dead husband’s funeral pyre–officially ended in the middle of the 19th century, widowhood is considered a “living sati,” and mortality rates are higher among widows than among married women.

Our Adopt-a-Widow program is an ongoing project. We continue to visit areas with high suicide rates, and identify widows to donate money to, such that they can have a sustainable livelihood. We can provide sewing machines, goats, buffaloes, and other things to give them independence through a small-scale business opportunity.

Please consider donating to assist the widows here through a one-time or recurring gift. We are a registered NGO.

Thank you for considering helping! You can click the DONATE button above to give.