There are over 44 million widows in India. Many of them live in poverty struggling to survive. They are malnourished, exposed to disease, and subjected to slavery. Widowed women experience targeted murder, rape, prostitution, forced marriage, property theft, eviction, social isolation, and physical and psychological abuse. Children of widows face horrors such as child marriage, illiteracy, loss of schooling, forced labour, child trafficking, homelessness, and rape.

The Loomba Foundation, an UN accredited global charity, is promoting the fundamental freedoms and humans rights of widows and their children in India and around the world by raising awareness of gross injustices women face when losing a husband. They work together with UN bodies, governments and activists to fight for widows who suffer dreadful prejudice and discrimination by promoting gender sensitive reform of national laws and policies, eradicating anti-widow superstitions, traditions, and social practices, promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment, implementing poverty-reduction strategies, and promoting opportunities for the education of their children.