Policy Brief: Women's land rights gains in Rwanda are eroded by cultural practices and negative attitude

Author: Rwanda Women Network (RWN), May 2011

A two-year (2009–2010) action research study entitled “Experiences of Women in Asserting their Land Rights: the case of Bugesera District, Rwanda", was carried out by Rwanda Women Network (RWN) in collaboration with the Makerere Institute of Social Research (MISR). The study shows that gains for women’s struggle on land rights in statutory law are undermined on the ground by the continuation of discriminatory practices, which are prejudicial to women and due to the negative attitudes towards women’s land rights in Rwanda.

Land scarcity in Rwanda is a huge problem due to population density and the fact that the country’s population is more than 80 percent dependent on agriculture. Due to the country’s history of conflict and the 1994 genocide, the complex land problem has deteriorated. Today, women constitute approximately 53 percent of the adult population and 50 percent of these are widows. Women continue to face the impact of genocide; for example, today 34 percent of all households in Rwanda are headed by women. In addition, of the Rwandan population infected with HIV, over 50 percent are women due partly to the mass rape during the genocide.

The struggle for women’s land rights has been helped by the progressive statutory regime that recognizes and protects women’s rights to own and inherit land. Relevant legislations include the Constitution (2003), Inheritance and Succession Law (1999), Land Law (2005), which together complement the 1960 Civil Code. In particular, Articles 4 and 9 of the Rwanda Constitution (2003) provide for equality of all Rwandans, men and women and between husbands and wives respectively.

Even though these policy and law reforms have greatly enhanced women’s land and property rights, in practice there is still a need for change. Click here to download the Policy Brief.

Experiences of women in asserting their land rights: the case of the Bugesera District

Author: Rwanda Women Network (RWN), International Land Coalition (ILC), March 2011

 

Poor women in developing countries rely on land as source of livelihood. Increasing pressure on land — brought on by globalisation pressures, increased population and privatisation — undermines women’s land tenure security. The comparison of women’s land access is predominantly measured against that of men, and this has been the basis for formulating policy aimed at increasing women’s land tenure security. However, this dichotomy reduces women to a homogenous group which experiences tenure security in an identical manner, so the dichotomy masks several differences which exist among women.

A focus on the differences among women allows for significant insight to emerge into how women experience tenure access differently, how various policies impact on different women and the specific ways these differences could be used to inform policy formulation and evaluation. Focussing on differentiation among women also illustrates other important factors shaping women’s access to land, normally overlooked when research focuses on differences between men and women.

This paper highlights how differentiation is useful to explain women’s differences in land access and how policy aimed at ensuring women’s tenure security could be more effective. Click here to download the Research Report.