Empowering Widows - Widow Empowerment - Empowerment and Inspiration

27. Policy Reform Watch: The Laws That Are (Slowly) Protecting Widows Today Legal protection for widows is advancing, but slowly, and the distance between a law on paper and a widow's lived reality remains wide. Here is where things stand as of October 2026, with the caveat that legal developments move quickly and anything here should be verified before you rely on it. What's already law: The Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act, 2015 (VAPP) is the centrepiece. Section 15 makes it an offence to subject a widow to harmful practices, punishable by up to two years in prison, a fine of ₦500,000, or both, and attempts are covered too. The Constitution's anti-discrimination provision adds a broader foundation, and some states, Lagos among them, have domesticated VAPP and maintain estate and wills laws that protect a surviving spouse's inheritance. What's pending. A bill to amend VAPP (HB 1711) passed second reading in the House of Representatives in February 2...