Chekera-Radu/Women’s land and property rights
42
CONTENT:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
1
Introduction .................................................................................................................. 42
The development of the right to property ............................................................. 43
The concept of indivisibility, interdependence and interrelatedness of
rights ...............................................................................................................................46
Equality and non-discrimination and their relevance to women’s land
and property rights .....................................................................................................48
The application of substantive equality in international human rights
systems ...........................................................................................................................50
The application of equality and non-discrimination in the African
Union’s human rights system ................................................................................... 53
Conclusion ..................................................................................................................... 59
INTRODUCTION
Of all the rights that accrue to women, the right to land and property is
one of the most significant, particularly on the African continent as a
larger proportion of women live in rural areas and their livelihood is
closely tied to land. While the importance of land and property rights
for women is recognised, a substantial number of women have not
realised their rights. In this regard, this article explores the right to
equality particularly as guaranteed through the equality provisions and
how it has been interpreted and applied within the African regional
human rights system with the view to ascertain whether the
interpretation of these rights is facilitative of the realisation of women’s
rights to land and property.
Over the last 15 years there has been wide recognition of women’s
human rights under international, regional and domestic laws. To date
a plethora of instruments on these rights exist. Extensive research has
shown the realisation of women’s rights particularly rights to land and
property has positive implications for the improvement of women’s
lives and for development.1 Conversely, literature has also shown that
while recognition of these rights is gaining acceptance through
inclusion in a number of legal documents, there is a vast disparity in the
actual enjoyment of these rights in many countries.2 In Africa this is no
different.
A number of instruments in the African human rights system
contain provisions that guarantee or are relevant to the protection and
realisation of women’s rights. In spite of these guarantees systemic
violations of these rights are rampant. Underlying these violations is
inequality and discrimination. One of the critical rights accruing to
women that is yet to be fully realised is the right to property. A
significant number of women across the continent lack secure rights to
property and at the heart of these violations and non-realisation of
1
B Agarwal A field of one’s own: gender and land rights in South Asia (1994);
LN Fonjong Issues in women’s land rights in Cameroon (2012); H Swaminathan
Women’s property rights HIV and AIDS & domestic violence: research findings from
two districts in South Africa and Uganda (2008).
2
Open Society Foundations ‘Securing women’s land and property rights, a critical
step to address HIV, violence, and food security’ http://globalinitiative-escr.org/wpcontent/uploads/2014/03/Securing-Womens-Land-Property-Rights-20140307.pdf
(accessed 18 June 2017).