The Stigma of Widowhood
Abandoned by Their Families
Imagine being married off at a young age to a man you have never met. You have a few children and start a happy life together.
Suddenly, your husband dies in an accident or from an unexpected illness. You grieve but instead of comforting you, your family abandons you. They take your children away and blame you for his death.
Society say it's because of your bad karma. Life as you knew it is over.
Many women carry the burden and stigma of being a widow. But White Rainbow Project is working to change that.
Abused & Exploited
Instead of finding peace and refuge there, they are abused and exploited.
Younger widows are forced into prostitution while the older widows are expected to chant for long hours every day at the Krishna temples throughout the city.
In exchange for all of their efforts, they receive a meager handful of rice and a few cents. Just enough to scrape by.
It is a life of sadness and despair with little hope, an endless cycle of misery and pain.
The City of Widows
Tragically widows are abandoned & dumped in the city of Vrindavan, left to an uncertain fate.
Vrindavan is known as the City of Widows where thousands of widows are left to live out their lives in devotion to the Hindu god, Krishna.
The women are told if they chant Krishna's name and dedicate their lives to him, they may have a chance of attaining salvation and a better outcome in their next life.
Hope Restored
We seek to change the world, one widow at a time. Widowhood is an inevitable fate for millions of women around the world, not just India. The debilitating stigmas of widowhood will continue to enslave women if they are not given avenues to gain their independence. If we pay attention to eliminating these stigmas, we will also find solutions to cycles of poverty, sex-trafficking, and unemployment.