The potential of land rights to contribute to gender equality – observations from Guatemala, India and Sierra Leone.
For many years, activists have campaigned for women’s rights to access, control, and, where context allows, own land. This is in recognition of the fact that land is important not only for growing food or as a place to build a home.
Land is also a resource that can be used to generate other forms of livelihoods, a place to belong to, and an identity. This is true for both women and men.
Our hypothesis, therefore, is that if women have guaranteed, independent rights to land, they will be empowered to better enjoy all their rights. This report aims to set out initial empirical research that affirms this as a fact.