Breaking down barriers to women’s rights to land

States must urgently change the laws and social norms which impose barriers to women’s right to own and access to land in more than half the world. This includes adopting measures to prevent private corporations and investors, powerful local elites, multilateral organizations, regional trade initiatives and family members from discriminating women in their rights to land.

States should account for the quality, legality and effective implementation, participation and enforceability of land rights for women.

Women’s land rights are critical to democracy, peace, justice, sustainable development and security for all. Secure land rights for women set off powerful, continued ripple effects that go a long way toward realizing gender equality and a range of critical SDGs and human rights.

Download the position paper on Women's Land Rights ( open the second link above)

# Globally women own less land and have less secure rights over land than men.
# Women make up on average less than 20 percent of the world’s landholders, but make up an estimated 43 percent
of the agricultural labor force.
# Globally, more than 400 million women work in agriculture.
# In sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, 60 to 70 percent of employed women work in agriculture.
# Yet despite women’s crucial role in agriculture, food production, and land-based livelihood, there is no consistent national or global data on the full scope of women’s land rights or access to land to enable them to monitor and enforce their rights.