constitution prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex and gender and states that all persons are equal before the law. The Marriage Act and the Customary Marriages Act require registration of marriages for those marriages that are solemnized according to either act. But the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations estimates that at least 70 percent of women living in rural areas are in unregistered customary unions and are living under customary law. Those acts do not apply to these marriages, so people in these marriages currently have no applicable formal legal regime for protection. Several laws on succession of estates and on maintenance of a deceased person’s family in Zimbabwe appear to provide for equal inheritance rights from spouses for women and men. However, they are out of reach for those many widows who cannot prove that they were married through a marriage registration. They further provide that maintenance payments from the estates are to be administered according to the rules that apply in case of divorce, which excludes property that was acquired by inheritance, custom, or is of “particular sentimental value.” Since men (not women) have typically inherited land and other valuable assets, in practice there are few assets that widows can inherit. The government of Zimbabwe should do more to bring its laws into line with the constitution, in keeping with the African Union and international human rights frameworks, to protect the rights of all married people regardless of their type of marriage, providing critical protection for older women who are, or may become, widows. While this report focuses on Zimbabwe, violations of the rights of widows are a significant problem in many countries around the world. The international community and individual governments have an obligation to end abuses against widows around the world. “YOU WILL GET NOTHING” 6