Violation of property rights threatens women’s health and safety

An American-based non-governmental organization, the International Centre for Research on Women (ICRW) has echoed the need to promote and protect women rights in sub-Saharan Africa – in Rwanda in particular. According to Nata Duvvury, director in charge of gender, violence and rights for ICRW, legal and policy reforms on the African continent are not enough for women to fully realize their rights to own and use property. “The gap between statutory laws and actual practice in the fulfilment of women’s rights looms large on the African continent,” she said recently at a workshop at the Hotel Africana in Kampala. “Women face serious challenges in fulfilling their rights when the law conflicts with social norms.” The workshop, sponsored by ICRW, centred on the theme “Mending the gap between law and practice.” It also engaged various women’s rights activists from Rwanda – and the entire African continent – who contribute to the challenges in fulfilling women rights when the existing laws in a given community conflict with social norms, when the law in relation to women’s ownership of property is poorly implemented, or where larger social and economic dynamics restrict women from using the law to claim their rights. Rwanda was represented by the Rwanda Women’s Network.Duvvury noted there are a number of common factors across cultures in the sub-Saharan region that widen the gap between law enforcement and the effective enforcement and protection of women’s rights to property. These factors include lack of legal knowledge on statutory rights among women and communities, women’s limited resources and documentation, crises that exacerbate women’s insecure property rights, the interpretation of customary and religious laws that, in practice, overrule statutory protections, and economic and demographic changes that affect land tenure, says Duvvury. Property rights are a person’s rights to own, acquire, manage, administer, enjoy, and dispose of tangible and intangible property, including land, housing, money, bank accounts, livestock, crops, and pensions. Under international human rights law, women and men are entitled to equal legal protection of their property rights. Duvvury emphasized the importance of upholding equal property rights to protect women’s economic security, social and legal status, and sometimes even their survival. Achieving women’s equality with respect to property is a critical aspect of development and social stability in post-conflict situations. Women’s equal property rights are also important in the fight against HIV/Aids; violations of these rights make women more vulnerable to HIV/Aids and speed the deaths of HIV positive women when their homes and assets are taken. Rights violation The workshop noted that women’s property rights are violated in many degrading ways. Many women, for example, are excluded from inheriting property, evicted from their lands and homes by in-laws, stripped of their possessions, and forced to engage in risky, non-consensual sexual practices in order to keep their property. When they divorce or separate from their husbands, women are often expelled from their homes with only their clothing. Married women can seldom stop their husbands from selling family property. Women who fight back are often beaten, raped, or ostracized. “According to the FAO declaration on ownership of property, women contribute over 80% to the agricultural sector, yet they control only 10% of it,” said Duvvury. The factors A number of factors contribute to women’s property rights violations. Chief among them are discriminatory laws and customs, sexist attitudes, unresponsive authorities, and ineffective courts. In addition, women face many obstacles in claiming their property rights, including lack of awareness of their rights, lack of time and financial means to pursue claims, and the social stigma of being considered greedy or usurpers of cultural tradition by asserting their rights. NGOs that work with women to protect their property and educate them of their rights also face harassment for their efforts. HIV/Aids relationship The HIV/Aids epidemic magnifies the devastation of property violations. Millions of children are orphaned by Aids, and millions of women are widowed at a relatively young age, often after contracting HIV from their husbands. Widows may have to undergo “customary wife inheritance” or “cleansing rituals”, often involving unprotected sex in order to keep their property, practices that put them at risk of contracting and spreading HIV. Women often tolerate abuse because they otherwise have little chance of keeping their property and staying in their homes. They risk HIV exposure due to the coercive sex, the inability to force their partners to wear condoms, and being blocked from seeking health services for fear of domestic violence. In countries with high HIV/Aids rates, there will be many more young widows in the coming years. These women, already disadvantaged by stigma and discrimination, will be gravely threatened by property rights violations. “They lose the assets they need to procure medical treatment, and will suffer when they lose the shelter they need to survive this debilitating disease,” said Duvvury. Hindering development Women’s insecure property rights contribute to low agricultural production, food shortages, underemployment, and poverty. Moreover, sub-Saharan Africa’s rate of economic growth has fallen by approximately 4% because of HIV/Aids. Labour productivity has been cut by up to 50% in the countries hardest hit by Aids. Beyond the dangers of Aids, property rights violations keep women unequal and dependent on men, even threatening their survival. After being illegally stripped of their homes and property, women often end up living in squalor, at increased risk for violence and disease. ICRW workshop participants resolved to promote and implement stronger legislation protecting women’s property rights, monitor the public’s observance of these laws, launch public awareness campaigns to sensitize uncooperative communities about the importance of equal property rights, and to train judges, media, police, and other relevant local and national officials in the laws regulating property rights and their responsibility to enforce them. They also vowed to ensure that court systems can handle women’s property claims fairly and efficiently, establish shelters for victims of domestic violence and property rights violations, and to ensure the perpetrators of such offences are investigated, prosecuted, and punished. Jays_inter@yahoo.com