Psychosocial experiences of Widows during the cleansing ritual: A scoping review Protocol of Southern African

Africa has an abundance of culturally and religiously ingrained customs and practices to help reintegrate a widow back into society after the death of her spouse. This study investigates the lived psychosocial experiences of a widow during traditional cleansing rituals in Southern Africa. These rituals are intended to stabilise the widow within her spiritual and social contexts, but often place her in psychological distress, exasperate social stigmas, subject the widow to financial abandonment, and violate her human dignity. This study seeks to identify, review, and synthesize existing scholarship on the lived psychosocial experiences of widows who are cleansed after the death of their spouse, then to articulate the role that culture, religion, gender, and socio-economic considerations play in the widow's lived psychosocial experience. The study will also invite interdisciplinary educational conversations between the social sciences and theology and promote the growth of African knowledge systems that honor human dignity, compassion, and justice.