Securing Women's Rights to Land, Property and Housing: Country Strategies

This series of articles was produced under the direction of Andina van Isschot

Acknowledgements

Rights & Democracy and the Coalition on Women's Human Rights in Conflict Situations would like to acknowledge the authors of this publication for their valuable contributions and recognize the courage of those for whom the simple act of writing constitutes an act of resistance.

We would also like to extend our gratitude to those who gave generously of their time and expertise to make this publication possible. First, we would like to thank Andina van Isschot for her crucial role in coordinating this project. Many thanks to Lara Blanco, Annie Bunting, Carla Castenada, Isabelle Doré, Stéphanie Rousseau and Sarah Zaidi for their extensive editorial comments and ideas. Finally, we must highlight the contribution of Leilani Farha, whose tireless efforts in the promotion and protection of women's fundamental rights merit all our recognition.

© International Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Development

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The opinions expressed in this essay are the authors' own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Rights & Democracy. Articles may be reproduced or freely excerpted, provided credit is given and a copy of the publication in which the material appears is sent to Rights & Democracy.

Paper Version:
Legal Deposit: Biblioth 'que nationale du Québec, fourth quarter 2000.
National Library of Canada, fourth quarter 2000. ISBN: 2-922084-32-9.
Graphics: Lucie Brunel Design
Printed in Canada. November 2000.

Table of Contents

• Preface
• Introduction
• Women's Property Rights in Afghanistan
• Algeria: The Unrelenting Struggle of Disposessed Women
• Mechanisms of Inclusion: Recent Advances in Women's Land Rights in Latin America
• The Struggle of Colombian Campesinas for Agrarian Reform
• La mujer campesina colombiana en su lucha por una reforma agraria
• Culture and Religion: Assets or Hindrances to Advancing Iranian Women's Economic and Property Rights?
• Challenging the Law: Women and Inheritance in Malawi
• Indigenous Women's Rights to Land, Property and Housing in Mexico: A Personal Testimony
• La mujer indÌgena, sus derechos a la tierra, a la propiedady a la vivienda en México: testimonio
• Homes and Homeland: Palestinian Women and the Right to Housing
• Women's Right to Own Property: Rwanda
• Women's Property and Land Rights in the Context of Post-Conflict: The Case of Sierra Leone
• Displaced Women, Land Rights and Violence in the Context of Armed Conflict: Field Testimonies of Nuba Women in Sudan
• Women, Land and the Right to Property in Tunisia
• Land, Property and Housing Rights for Women in Zimbabwe: The Magaya Decision in Retrospect (1-15-2000)
• Annex A: Commission on Human Rights Resolution E/CN.4/RES/2000/13: Women's equal ownership of, access to and control over land and the equal rights to own property and to adequate housing.
• Annex B: La Comision de Derechos Humanos E/CN.4/RES/2000/13: La igualdad de las mujeres en materia de propiedad, acceso y control de la tierra y la igualdad de derechos a la propiedad y a una vivienda adecuada

Preface

The following collection of essays on women's land, property and housing rights is a publication of Rights & Democracy, which coordinates the NGO Coalition on Women's Human Rights in Conflict Situations. ¹ The Coalition has been working at the international level to ensure that gender-based crimes are prosecuted at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR). Inspired by the efforts of Rwandan women's rights activists and organizations to bring about an extensive revision of discriminatory laws affecting women, ² Coalition members began a process of reflection on women's land, property and housing rights.

As part of this process, the Coalition invited human rights activists and activist academics to reflect on the gendered nature of land, property and housing rights in situations of peace, conflict and post-conflict. When possible, writers were also asked to discuss the nature of the women's movement around these issues. This publication is the product of their work and commitment to the protection and promotion of women's human rights.

The publication presents perspectives from Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East on women's rights to land, property and housing. The writings reflect the idea that women's land, property and housing rights require treatment within a broad human rights framework; and that women's status and condition, as well as their experience of violence, is intimately connected with their ability to exercise fundamental socio-economic and cultural rights. It is our sincere hope that the ideas and experiences that emerge from these pages may contribute to our thinking and organizing efforts.

Introduction

Leilani Farha ³

I am both honoured and delighted to have the opportunity to parti-cipate in this important and unique contribution to the protection and promotion of women's human rights. This publication is important because it highlights women's experiences with respect to land, property and housing, which have yet to receive the attention they require to secure a place on political agendas. This publication is unique because it understands that in every part of the world women face obstacles to the enjoyment of land, property and housing rights. Furthermore, it situates women's struggle for land and property rights alongside women's struggle for housing rights, forging an obvious connection, but one that is not often articulated.

What is most fascinating about the articles that appear in this publication is the range and complexity of issues and experiences that emerge under the rubric of women's rights to land, property and housing. For example, the article from Sudan documents the interplay between rights to land and property (or lack thereof) and violence against women. The contribution from Afghanistan suggests the interconnections between women's rights to land and property and women's socio-economic status. The review of a recent Supreme Court of Zimbabwe decision highlights the disjuncture between laws which protect women's rights and customs or traditions which can override these laws. The overview of Latin America highlights the discriminatory effect of land titling systems which grant title to "heads of households", and the benefits to women of joint titling systems which extend to married and cohabiting couples. Though the sheer number of obstacles to women's rights to land, property and housing may appear overwhelming, these articles indicate that women are undaunted. We learn that women have employed a diversity of strategies to protect their rights to land, property and housing including: social action, participation in international networks and campaigns, and research and advocacy, involving the use of domestic and international mechanisms, among others.

Looking forward, this publication should inform future strategies in several important ways. The number of issues raised by the articles, as well as the intersections between these issues, suggest that strategies and responses must be capable of addressing complexity. The need for complex strategies and responses implies a continuing role for international human rights law as a framework within which to situate women's claims to land, property and housing rights. This is because international human rights law covers a number of realms — civil, cultural, economic, political and social — and so has the capacity to provide standards for the range of issues that arise with respect to women's rights to land, property and housing.

At the same time, international human rights law can offer women an internationally agreed upon reference point for assessing the treatment of women with respect to land, property and housing rights. For example, there are a growing number of international human rights documents upon which women throughout the world can rely to assert their rights to land, property and housing. One of the most significant and recent is Resolution 2000/13, Women's equal ownership of, access to and control over land and the equal rights to own property and to adequate housing. Adopted by the Commission on Human Rights — the most authoritative human rights body at the United Nations — at its most recent session, this resolution is a milestone in the promotion of women's rights as it is the first international document to draw unequivocal connections between women's rights to land, property, housing and inheritance, recognizing the gender dimensions of economic, social and cultural rights (please see p. 79 for the full text of this resolution).

Standards such as this are of particular use to those women living in conflict situations or in countries where domestic laws and practices obstruct women's rights to land, property and housing because they serve as tools or a means to hold their governments accountable to their legal obligations.

Regardless of the types of strategies employed to address violations of women's rights to land, property and housing, it is essential that they be informed by those who are struggling to have these rights recognized domestically. The articles that follow do just that by providing a window onto women's knowledge, skills and experiences with respect to land, property and housing.

NOTES

1. The Coalition seeks solutions to the invisibility of women's human rights abuses in conflict situations, to condemn the practice of rape and other inhumane treatment of women as deliberate instruments of war, and ensure that these are prosecuted as war crimes, torture, crimes against humanity and crimes of genocide, when appropriate. Working at the local and international level, Coalition members act as a resource for consultation and debate on substantive issues concerning the integration of a gender perspective in peace negotiations, while promoting women's contribution to fostering a culture of peace in different contexts.

2. In March 1995, Rwandan President Pasteur Bizimungu announced that the Ministry of Family and the Promotion of Women would revise customary and statutory law which discriminated against women and failed to comply with international legal standards. Still underway, Rwandan non-governmental organizations have been instrumental in this revision process, drafting legislative amendments and reforms as well as mobilizing popular support around these measures. Among the most important reform measures have been proposed changes to the Rwandan Family Code. In 1999, a law on succession was approved by the Rwandan Parliament. When ratified, it is anticipated that the law will significantly improve women's ability to inherit property and land.

3. Leilani Farha is the Women's Programme Coordinator for the Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions (Geneva, Switzerland) and the staff lawyer and women's housing rights advocate with the Centre for Equality Rights in Accommodation (Toronto, Canada).

Women's Rights Programme