ABSTRACT
In this paper, I examine the concept of empowerment as the means proposed by the international donor agencies to alleviate suffering among the poor in the developing world, particularly women and other vulnerable populations. I am concerned with how the term is defi ned and used, how it is measured, and how useful the measurement is for understanding how widows in Kenya, as a case study, confront issues around HIV and AIDS within prevailing cultural norms. Using fi ndings from a study we carried out in Kenya in 2004-2005, I discuss how problematic it is to apply the framework of “empowerment” to challenge the circumstances in which most women in sub-Saharan Africa live and act, circumstances that predispose them to either being infected or infecting their sexual partners with HIV. More specifi cally, I explore how widows from the Luo ethnic community in western Kenya conceptualize empowerment within the context of societal norms and expectations of two sexual behaviors in widowhood, sexual cleansing and inheritance.
