ISLAMABAD, July 9: A non-governmental organisation is unveiling the draft bill on ‘women’s right to land’ at a day-long National Women Farmers’ Convention here on Tuesday.
This was announced by Aqsa Khan and Aisha Mukhtar of the NGO, ActionAid, while speaking at a briefing on the event.
They said a comprehensive bill had been drafted to review existing laws and suggesting amendments to them for recognition of poor women farmers at the national level. They said the draft bill, which advocates women’s access and right to land through amendments in existing agricultural laws, was based on recommendations of stakeholders.
Ms Khan said booklets based on case studies, collected from all over Pakistan to document women farmers’ experiences with respect to land rights, will also be launched at the convention.
She said the objective of the women farmers’ national assembly, being organised in collaboration with the Sustainable Agriculture Action Group (Saag), was to raise awareness on women’s right to land, promote women farmers’ right to food security and livelihood and facilitate experience-sharing of women farmers, regarding land rights and access and control over resources. Saag is a network of farmers and organizations working for the rights of farmers.
She said gender disparities in land ownership were poorly documented. According to a survey of 1,000 households in rural Punjab in 1996, only 36 women owned land in their name, while only nine had the power to sell or trade it without obtaining prior permission from their male relatives.
She said barriers to women’s land ownership included family pressure, fear of social boycott, dependence on male relatives to deal with the outside world, legal complexities, fear of violence, customary tribal laws and discriminatory parallel judicial systems, like the panchayat.
She said one-third of Pakistan’s population does not have access to food needed to maintain adequate nutrition, adding that there was gender disparity in access to food because of intra-household discrimination against women.
She pointed out that women play a significant role in food production, as 66.4 per cent of them were in the agricultural sector labour force. Out of the total economically-active population in agriculture, 40 per cent are women.
Despite being major food producers, women in Pakistan remain dependent on their male relatives for access to land and housing.
Women, who supply a significant part of agriculture labour but are systematically denied the right to own or inherit land. Although research has established the link between shortage of food and non-availability of production resources to women, little attention has been paid to secure women’s right to land.
Though Pakistan’s Constitution values gender equality and Islamic Law also stipulates women’s share in inheritance; legal complexities, lack of political will and discriminatory cultural practices lead to violation of women’s land rights.
Women themselves are treated as property in many areas especially where bride price tradition is upheld. Though illegal, property-grabbing, whereby women face eviction by their in-laws upon death of their husbands, is also common.
Since women’s land rights are closely linked to their social, political and economic status as well as other broader issues such as economic development and food security, therefore, it is essential to recognize and protect women’s right to land.