The police believed the Chief Inspector's story that she had seduced his teenage son. The words in Bangla and vernacular languages for a widow are abusive. As in India, the widow has the lowest status of all women. Coping Strategies Unlike African women, the majority of widows in Bangladesh would not have been in income-generating work before the husband's death. Thus they have generally no economically productive work to fall back on at the onset of widowhood.
Mat making is popular since the leaves are available and there is both local and urban demand.
Many widows are unaware of the existence of such projects and they are not specifically targeted. Also, widows have less mobility and time available since they are usually overwhelmed by their situation and may be restricted culturally from involving themselves in such activities. Finding paid employment in the garment factories, or domestic service in an urban family where her children can also be housed and fed and from where they can be sent out to work. Joining up with other widows in the urban squatter camps and seeking collectively to obtain protection from eviction and get health care and social support. Collecting data and promoting research on widowhood since there has been virtually none in Bangladesh apart from the Shamim Study in 1996.