Socio-Economic Empowerment of Widows for Sustainable Self-Reliance in Kajiado West Sub - County, Kenya
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Date
2021-04
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Tangaza University College
Abstract
This study focused on the Socio-Economic Empowerment of Widows for Sustainable Self-Reliance in Kajiado West Sub-County, Kenya. The objectives of the study were to; explore socio-economic empowerment challenges widows face, advocate for the widows’ rights, propose income-generating activities, and suggest training skills to empower widows for sustainable self-reliance. The study adopted a Convergent Parallel Mixed Method design with quantitative and qualitative methods to capture the opinions of the respondents. Marc Zimmerman’s (1995) Empowerment Theory guided the study. The study targeted 300 widows. Stratified and simple random sampling, snowball and purposive sampling techniques determined the selection of participants. The study had a sample size of 108 participants. The questionnaires and interview guide instruments were used to collect data and were subjected to content and face validity. Cronbach Alpha and Member checking determined the reliability of quantitative and qualitative data respectively. The information from questionnaires was coded, keyed into a computer, and the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 21 analysed the data. Descriptive information mainly frequencies together with percentages summarized quantitative data. Qualitative information from interviews was arranged in themes and presented in narrative forms and direct quotes. Ethical considerations were observed throughout the research process. Key findings showed that widows experienced discrimination, denial of inheritance rights, eviction, and lack of finances. Advocacy of widows’ rights was minimal. A few widows had income generating activities but had no formal training skills. The study recommends sensitization of the community on widows' rights, starting income projects and training skills to empower widows to be sustainably self-reliance.
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Keywords
Socio-Economic, Empowerment of Widows, Empowerment of Widows, Kajiado West