widow cleansing

English

Noun

widow cleansing (uncountable)

1. (Africa) A tradition that requires widowed women to have sexual intercourse as a form of ritual purification
   • 2017 December 6, “Kenya widows fight sexual 'cleansing' practise”, in BBC News‎^[1]:

     A group of women in western Kenya is fighting "widow-cleansing", a traditional ritual practiced by Luo ethnic communities in some of the poorer, more rural areas of the country.

   • 2019 May 23, Roseline Orwa, “Kenya: education, stigma and widow cleansing”, in LSE blog‎^[2]:

     The practices of widow cleansing, as well as widow inheritance, pose a serious risk of spreading HIV/AIDS to individuals and among the wider community.